Shaquille O’Neal was born on the 6th of March, 1972 as “Shaquille Roshan O’Neal” in Newark, New Jersey, USA to father Joseph Toney and mother Lucille. In Arabic his name means the little warrior. His mother married Phillip Harrison soon after Shaquille was born. His stepfather was a US Army sergeant stationed in Bavaria, Germany which meant that Shaquille O’neal spent much time in Germany while growing up.
Shaquille O’neal’s professional basketball playing career began with the NBA team, Orlando Magic in 1992. Orlando Magic reached the finals in 94/95 but were taken out by the Houston Rockets. It was when Shaquille O’neal moved to play for the LA Lakers that he could realize his full potential, playing with other star basketballers like Kobe Bryant. Shaq as he is nicknamed, helped the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team to 3 NBA title in the years 2000,01 and 02 NBA finals, being named the Most Valuable Player in all consecutive finals. O’Neal then moved to the Miami Heat basketball team after a much talked about trade with several other key players from Miami Heat.
Shaquille ONeal is known as an aggressive “in your face” player that uses his size and athletic skills to intimidate players. He is also one of the leading defensive players in the game, being awarded the best NBA defender in 2000, 2001, and 2003.
Shaq is married to Shaunie Nelson, the mother of their three children. O’Neal also has one other child with a previous relationship.
He also has interests in music and has released several rap albums of his own. He has also appeared in several films.