Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille Rashaun "Shaq" O'Neal (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American retired professional basketball player. He had a 19 year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. He is often considered one of the greatest and well-known players in the history of the NBA. He stands at  and weighs , making him one of the heaviest players to ever play in the NBA. He has recently gotten his jersey retired by the Orlando Magic, making him one of the only players to have 3 jerseys retired.  

Basketball career
Before playing in the NBA, O'Neal played college basketball at Louisiana State University.  Throughout his 18 year career, O'Neal has used his size and strength to help him play well. O'Neal won a scoring title, an MVP and three championships with the Los Angeles Lakers; he later won a championship with the Miami Heat. He first played for the Orlando Magic and later for the Phoenix Suns. O'Neal won a gold medal with the 1996 Dream Team. O'Neal is currently the oldest player in the NBA and is the only one of the 50 Greatest NBA players, as chosen in 1996, to still be playing in the NBA. He has scored the most points of anyone still in the NBA, and the fifth-most of any NBA player ever.  He also one of the best shooters in the history of the NBA, and has led the league in that category ten times.  He has been named All-NBA and an All-Star quite a few times. He retired from the NBA on June 1, 2011 and held a press conference on June 3, 2011 to officially announce his retirement. After Shaq's college career he had 1 child.

Music, TV and movie career
O'Neal has appeared in several films and music videos, often as himself. As an actor, O'Neal starred in several films such as Blue Chips, Kazaam and Steel.

As a rapper, he released five studio albums and 1 compilation album. His first album, Shaq Diesel, was released in 1993. It received platinum certification from the RIAA. He rapped on the song "2 Bad" on Michael Jackson's album HIStory. He later performed three songs on the Kazaam soundtrack. O'Neal also rapped on Aaron Carter's 2001 hit single "That's How I Beat Shaq". 

He has hosted two TV shows, one where he helps kids lose weight and another where he competes against athletes from other sports. He is currently studio analyst for ESPN's show Inside the NBA.

Personal life
O'Neal is a Muslim.

References

Other websites 
Profile on Cavaliers official website

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