Preloading

How Shaquille O'Neal Guards Against Nepotism

Season 6 Episode 607
Aired on 09/16/2017 | CC tv-pg
Being a standout professional basketball player has put Shaquille O'Neal in the presence of many successful, affluent people, such as Miami Heat owner Micky Arison and his son, Nick. The Arisons are worth billions, yet, despite their great wealth, Micky's grounded approach to parenting is one that Shaq has found inspiring ever since he first came across young Nick paying his dues within the Heat organization.

"I come in to shoot late at night, and Nick Arison is cleaning up the locker room. ... You see him outside with the marketing people, handing out tickets, handing out shirts, handing out gifts," Shaq says. "His father could have said, at 18, when his grandmother gave [Nick] $100 million, 'Just come work upstairs.' But, no. I've seen this kid really work from the bottom."

This approach is one that Shaq says he adopted for his own children. "I tell them all the time, 'Ain't going to be no easy ride,'" Shaq says. "I told them, 'You're going to have to get two degrees to touch my cheese.'"

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