On the Court With... Shaquille O'Neal by Matt Christopher
Authors: Matt Christopher
Tags: United States, Juvenile Nonfiction, People & Places, Biography & Autobiography, Sports & Recreation, African American, Basketball
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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 AngelesLakers, 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 successtoday 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
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 AngelesLakers, 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 successtoday 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
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