On the Court With... Shaquille O'Neal

by Matt Christopher

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2003 by Matt Christopher Royalties, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

  237 Park Avenue

  New York, NY 10017

  Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com

  www.twitter.com/littlebrown

  First eBook Edition: December 2009

  Matt Christopher® is a registered trademark of Matt Christopher Royalties, Inc.

  ISBN: 978-0-316-09407-8

  Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter One: 1972–87

  Little Big Man

  Chapter Two: 1987–89

  Growing Up … and Up

  Chapter Three: 1989–92

  Big Man on Campus

  Chapter Four: 1992–95

  Magic Man

  Chapter Five: 1995–99

  California Dreaming

  Chapter Six: 1999–2000

  Champions

  Chapter Seven: 2000–02

  Repeat After Me

  Chapter Eight: 2002–2005

  Back to Florida!

  THE #1 SPORTS SERIES FOR KIDS: MATT CHRISTOPHER®

  Matt Christopher®

  Chapter One: 1972–87

  Little Big Man

  Shaquille O'Neal is a big, big man. He stands seven feet one inch tall and weighs more than 300 pounds. When Shaquille walks into a room or onto a basketball court, everyone takes notice.

  Since becoming a professional basketball player at age nineteen, Shaquille O'Neal has done big things. Already considered one of the greatest players in basketball history, he has accomplished almost everything there is to accomplish in the National Basketball Association. As an individual, he has won the Rookie of the Year award and the scoring title, been named to the All-NBA first team four times, been selected to play in the NBA All-Star Game nine times, and has been chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game, regular season, and NBA Finals. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, he has helped his team win three consecutive NBA titles. He even helped the U.S. Olympic basketball team win a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. In the off-season he has somehow found time to record five rap CDs and appear in three movies. He even owns his own record label and clothing line!

  Believe it or not, success did not come easily to Shaquille O'Neal. Long before he became a professional basketball player, O'Neal had to learn to live with his size both on and off the court. Simply being the biggest kid in class or the biggest kid on his block wasn't always enough to ensure success. Being the biggest player on the basketball court didn't mean that he knew how to play well or how to help his team win. In both his private life and his basketball career, Shaquille O'Neal has had to learn the tough lesson that while his size is a great gift that makes him stand out from the crowd, how he makes use of that gift is far more important.

  More than any individual honor or personal achievement, that lesson has been perhaps his greatest accomplishment. For not only is Shaq a great player and teammate, he has become a good person and a role model. He credits much of his success today to the example set by the most important person in his life: his mother, Lucille.

  Lucille O'Neal grew up in Newark, New Jersey. Although her parents, Sirlester and Odessa O'Neal, didn't have much money, Lucille worked hard at school and dreamed of going on to college after high school and becoming a nurse. She was determined to make something of her life.

  In high school she started dating an older student named James Toney. Toney was tall and good-looking and a star of the school basketball team. After high school he attended Seton Hall University in nearby East Orange, New Jersey, and continued to date Lucille.

  But when Lucille was eighteen years old and still a senior in high school, she became pregnant. When she told Toney she was going to have a baby, he quickly made it clear that he had no plans to marry Lucille or help her raise a child. He had gotten involved with the wrong crowd and wasn't taking much responsibility for his own life.

  Lucille stopped seeing Toney and began to make plans to take care of her child. She moved in with her grandmother Cillar and prepared to become a mother.

  On March 6, 1972, Lucille O'Neal gave birth to a son. The baby was born healthy, weighing just under eight pounds. Lucille loved him with all her heart.

  Many people in Lucille's family had distinctive names, and she wanted her son to have a unique name as well, one that she hoped would reflect his future life. She knew their life would be a struggle, so she selected an Islamic name, Shaquille Rashaun, which means “little warrior.” As she later explained to a reporter, “I felt he was my little one, my little warrior. I wanted him to be strong, independent, and tough.” Since James Toney was no longer a part of her life, she gave her son her own last name, O'Neal.

  After taking care of the infant for a few months, Lucille reluctantly left her son in day care each day and went to work for the city of Newark as a receptionist at a youth center. Although she didn't earn much money, she was able to pay her bills. She worked hard and soon applied for other jobs with the city, eventually becoming a clerk in the payroll department at City Hall.

  Meanwhile, her “little warrior,” Shaquille, was beginning to grow. He loved to eat and was very bright and energetic. He didn't want to be held or cuddled very much. He was happy-go-lucky and liked to play.

  When Shaquille was only two years old, his mother met Phillip Harrison. Harrison was nothing like James Toney. He had two young children from a previous marriage and, unlike Toney, was doing his best to provide for them.

  Lucille began dating Phillip, and the two soon married. But before they did, Harrison looked up James Toney. Harrison had played basketball in college, so he knew who Toney was, but the two weren't close friends. When Harrison spoke to Toney, he told him that he planned to treat Shaquille as if he were his own son.

  And he did. Harrison became Shaquille's father. To this day, Shaquille O'Neal considers Phil Harrison his father and not James Toney. He even wrote a rap song about how James Toney had abandoned his mother and him. The song is called “Biological Didn't Bother.”

  Harrison soon realized he had to do everything he could to support his family and help them thrive. He wanted to move out of Newark, which was a poor community that didn't provide a good environment for children. Soon after marrying Lucille, Harrison decided to join the army.

  Harrison loved the discipline, structure, and security the army provided. He believed that young Shaquille needed the same sort of structure in his life. At times he was very strict with his son, but only because he was determined that Shaquille make something of his life.

  Of course, Shaquille was little more than a toddler, so at first many of those lessons went to waste. When Shaquille misbehaved, Harrison would punish Shaquille by sending him to his room. But when Harrison went to work, Shaquille's mother would break down and lift the punishment. She just couldn't stay mad at her son for very long.

  As the years passed, Phil Harrison moved up the ranks in the army. The family moved to Bayonne, New Jersey, and soon grew larger. When Shaquille was six years old, his sister Lateefah was born, followed one year later by another sister, Ayesha, and then a year later by his little brother, Jamal.

  Shaquille was growing, too, and was much bigger than other children his age. When Lucille took Shaquille on the train to visit relatives, she carried his birth certificat
e to prove to the conductor that despite his size, Shaquille was still young enough to ride for free. By the time he started school, he was one of the biggest students in his grade. But he was bright, too. When he was little, his mother had read to him from the dictionary. She hoped to give her son a jump start on his education. It may have worked, for Shaquille skipped first grade.

  In many ways, Shaquille was a typical boy. He liked to play sports, particularly basketball and football. Even though he was one of the youngest kids in the local youth leagues, he towered over his opponents. His size helped him become a star player on most teams.

  But as he grew older, Shaquille started developing some bad habits. He wasn't a bad kid, but because both his parents were working, he didn't always have a great deal of supervision. He allowed his friends to talk him into doing things that he knew were wrong, like stealing candy and other small items from stores. His friends didn't care about school, so Shaquille stopped paying attention, too, and spent much of his time in class goofing off. In fourth grade he received all F's on a report card and was in danger of failing for the year.

  In an effort to turn their son around, Shaquille's parents gave him a wake-up call. They knew how important sports were to him. So they told him that if he didn't earn passing grades, they wouldn't allow him to play. Shaquille knew they meant what they said. He started working a little harder in school, and soon his grades went up.

  However, he still didn't take school very seriously. He didn't understand that education was about more than just learning lessons. It was also about learning how to learn and behave.

  When Shaquille was ten years old and in the fifth grade, everything changed in his life. The army transferred Phil Harrison to Fort Stewart in Georgia. The whole family had to move.

  Shaquille didn't react to the move very well. He missed his old friends and he had to get accustomed to living with different kinds of people. Growing up in New Jersey, the Harrisons had always lived in an African American community. Shaquille hadn't spent much time with children from other parts of the country or of other races. All of a sudden, everyone was different.

  To make matters worse, Shaquille was a shy child and younger than most of the other kids in his class. In addition, many of the other children were the sons and daughters of army officers. These officers made more money than Shaquille's father, who was only a supply sergeant. Money was tight, and Shaquille often had to wear the same pair of pants two or three times a week. This fact didn't escape the notice of his classmates. They teased him about his clothes. His size made him an easy target for name-calling, too. Taunts such as Sasquatch, Tall Bunyan, or the name that bothered him the most, Shaquilla the Gorilla, followed him around the school.

  Shaquille hated being teased. To take the focus off his height, he began to act up. In the classroom, he became a clown and was constantly disrupting class by cracking a joke, playing a prank, or just not paying attention to the teacher. Outside of school, he continued to go along with the crowd and followed others into trouble. When the teasing became unbearable, he became a bully, getting into fights almost every week. He discovered that he could intimidate other kids and that when he did, other students would be nice to him because they were afraid.

  The Harrisons were concerned about their son. Phil Harrison, in particular, was embarrassed by all the trouble his son was causing. In the past, Shaquille's father had spanked him when he misbehaved. But now that Shaquille was nearly as big as his father, the spankings didn't have much impact anymore. One day Shaquille and his father sat down and had a long talk.

  Shaquille told him about how much he hated being teased and how embarrassed he was to be so big. His father, who stood six feet five inches, understood what it was like to be bigger than most other kids. He also knew that his son needed to look at his size as something positive rather than something negative. Phil told him, “Look how big you are. Be a leader, not a follower. People will look up to you.”

  Shaquille never forgot those words. He wanted to be looked up to. He wanted to accomplish something in his life. Ever so slowly, he began to change.

  Life soon changed, too. After one year in Georgia, Phil was transferred again. This time the family had to move to Germany.

  At first, Shaquille hated being in Germany. He didn't like the cold weather and was bored with life on the army base. He had an after-school job but quit before too long. Instead, he baby-sat for his little brother and sisters while his parents worked — not something he found to be too much fun. The only thing he really liked to do was play basketball.

  On the base, Shaquille made friends with the wrong crowd of kids. Soon he was getting into trouble again. Although his buddies liked to sing and break-dance, they also stole from the stores on the base and vandalized other people's property to show one another how tough and brave they were.

  Then one day, when Shaquille was only thirteen, his friends decided to steal a car. They broke the window, opened the door, and piled in. But Shaquille wouldn't get into the car. He knew that stealing a car was a serious crime. His friends called him names and accused him of being a coward, but Shaquille was finally growing up. He remembered the talk he had with his father about being a leader. He just turned and walked away.

  He later learned that his friends had been caught with the stolen car and were all in big trouble. He breathed a big sigh of relief and realized he had made the right decision. After that, Shaquille started walking away from trouble. His days as a troublemaker were over.

  Meanwhile, basketball was becoming more important to him. His father began taking him to the base gym and teaching him as much about the game as he could. Shaquille was already six feet six inches and had been unstoppable in youth league games, sometimes scoring 40 points or more. But Shaquille's father knew that as his son grew older just being tall wouldn't be enough to ensure success on the basketball court. Someday Shaquille would have to start competing with players his own size. He needed to know how to dribble and pass the ball, position himself for rebounds, and shoot away from the basket.

  At first, Shaquille felt clumsy when he tried to follow his father's instructions. He tired easily. His body was growing so quickly that his movements weren't very coordinated. At one point he had to stop playing because his bones were growing so fast that his knees began to swell up, a condition called Osgood-Schlatter disease. After taking some time off to allow his body to adjust, he began to make progress.

  He also changed his friends and began paying more attention in school. He made new friends on the basketball court. One of his good friends was another player named Mitch, whom Shaquille later described as “just like Larry Bird.” Mitch was a good player and playing with him helped Shaquille improve his game.

  Shaquille looked forward to playing on the ninth-grade team at the base's high school, Fulda High. A few weeks before tryouts, he learned that a well-known college coach, Dale Brown, from Louisiana State University, was giving a clinic at a nearby gym. He hoped to pick up some tips that would help him make the Fulda High team. Most of the other players were young men in the military, but Shaquille was so big that he looked just as old as everyone else.

  Shaquille listened closely as Brown talked about basketball. He watched some players demonstrate the right way to play. At the end of the clinic, he approached Coach Brown and asked him for his autograph and some tips on how to improve his game and become stronger. As Brown later recalled, Shaquille said, “Excuse me for interrupting, but I'm going to be trying out for the team and I need to ask a question. I can't dunk the ball and I've got real bad endurance. Could you show me some exercises?”

  Brown showed the young man a few basic exercises, then asked, “How long have you been in the service, Soldier?”

  Shaquille looked puzzled, then smiled. “Coach Brown,” he said, “I'm not in the service. I'm only thirteen.”

  Brown blinked in surprise. “What size shoe do you wear?” he asked.

  “Size thirteen,” answered Shaquille.


  Brown couldn't believe that a player so big could be so young. As a college coach, he was always looking for players, and here was a giant that no other coach had heard of yet. He was impressed with Shaquille, not only for his size but for the way he carried himself. His shoes were shined and his pants were creased. He was polite, well spoken, and had a quiet confidence that told Brown that he was beginning to grow up. “Is your dad around?” he asked.

  Shaquille's father arranged to meet with Coach Brown. The coach didn't waste any time. Brown told him he thought Harrison's son would be good enough to get a college scholarship to play basketball. In fact, Brown was already interested in Shaquille.

  Harrison's reply surprised Brown. “You know,” he said, “it's fine if he plays basketball. But there are too many blacks who aren't educated, too many sergeants like me and not enough generals.” Harrison was more concerned about his son as a person than as an athlete.

  Brown was impressed. He gave Shaquille's father his card, wrote down his address, and told him to keep in touch. When Brown returned to the United States, he sent Shaquille instructions for a set of exercises to improve his strength and endurance.

  A few weeks later Shaquille tried out for the ninth-grade team at Fulda High School. Despite his improvement, he was cut. The ninth-grade coach told him he was too slow and too clumsy and suggested that he try to become a soccer goalie.

  Shaquille was disappointed, but he was still determined to improve. He wrote Coach Brown a letter and told him he hadn't made the team. Brown wrote back and told him to keep working hard, do his exercises, and never give up. Shaquille followed Coach Brown's advice.

  A year later Shaquille showed up for Fulda High basketball tryouts. He now stood six feet eight inches and was finally growing into his body. He had always been skinny, but now he was beginning to fill out. After months of exercise, he was much stronger. He wasn't bothered by Osgood-Schlatter disease anymore. And he was beginning to turn into a player. He could even dunk the ball. This year he made the team.