Shaquille O’Neal Announces His Retirement From Being a Celebrity

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal announced his second retirement. Yes, you read it right. Big Shaq is retiring. Again.

The former Lakers player is fed up with his celebrity status. He’d rather do something else. Well, we saw this coming. Shaq is everywhere around us. TV, radio, online… You name it!

So, the basketball legend said he no longer wants to live this way. Shaq wants people to remember him for his greatness on and off the basketball court. We’ve seen those celebrities “act crazy.” Well, Shaq doesn’t want to be like them.

“These celebrities are going freaking crazy and I don’t want to be one. I denounce my celebrity-ness today. I’m done with it,” O’Neal told the New York Post. “I don’t want to be in that category. Celebrities are crazy, they really are. Don’t call me that anymore. These people are out of their freaking mind with how they treat people, what they do, what they say. That’s never been me. I never want to be looked at like that.”

Shaquille O’Neal announces his retirement for a reason

Got the point? Celebrities go out of their way to get everyone’s attention. It’s all about stacking money and doing sick things. Shaq doesn’t like the way they treat others and we understand that.

The big man has a really great reason to say this. He wasn’t always rich. Life was really hard at one point but Shaq became an NBA legend and has great endorsement deals. Money doesn’t make you better than everyone else and Shaq knows it really well. He just wants people to remember him as a great man.

“I came from nothing,” he said. “But, just because I made it doesn’t mean I’m bigger than you, smarter than you — just because I have more money doesn’t mean I’m better than you. I’ve never been that way and I never will be that way. So I don’t want to be in that category of people.

“When they talk about Shaq, what do you say? ‘He’s a nice guy.’ Because what else can you be? You’re either nice or you’re the A-word, and I definitely won’t be looked at as the A-word,” he said.

“I want people to say, ‘Bro, he’s nice. He didn’t have an entourage. His people didn’t take my phone because I took a picture and threw it.’”

Shaq is a decent guy and these comments will definitely bring joy to his loyal fans. Maybe he will motivate others to do something about people around them.