Lucille Shared the “Burden” of Shaquille O’Neal’s Hefty Gift With 1 Person After Getting Kicked Out by Family

Shaq the Entertainer should feel threatened. It’s Lucille O’Neal’s time to shine. Shaquille O’Neal‘s mom is collaborating with Steph Curry’s mother, Sonya Curry, for a show revolving around famous parents. Raising Fame premieres on TV One on July 7 and the show’s hosts are on the press circuit. The NBA star moms aren’t keeping it filtered even before the show premieres. During a stop at Good Morning Arizona, Dr. Lucille O’Neal got candid about what it was like in those initial years as a single mother, raising the future basketball legend.

Lucille was only 17 when she became a first-time mother. Shaq’s biological father, Joseph Toney, was never in the picture till O’Neal was in his forties. Her biggest support then was Odessa, her mother, and Shaq’s grandmother, Lucille told the anchor. The O’Neal matriarch was the first to recognize that her grandson was special and needed to be nurtured.

“It was my mother that helped me carry that burden because she reminded me out of all of my four children that Shaquille would be very, very special, and he would make a huge contribution to the world because of the unique personality that he has and just being a unique individual, different from all of his peers,” she said. “What I learned being a parent is that it’s a huge responsibility whether we want it or not.”

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Lucille would later marry the military sergeant, Philip Harrison, and have three more children with him. O’Neal held the greatest admiration for Harrison, who instilled in him the values of taking care of his mother, younger siblings, and later his kids. “Shaquille, being the eldest, he set the standard,” Lucille said about her firstborn.

What’s your reaction?Did Shaq’s mom just prove she’s the real MVP? React!

As much as Shaq emulated his (step)father and tried to be less burdensome on his parents, he got to be a kid with his grandma. He tries to be a dad like Harrison, but he aspires to one day be a grandparent like his doting grandma.

Shaq’s grandma came through where the family didn’tADVERTISEMENT

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Shaq responded to a concerned parent calling in on The Big Podcast that there’s no stopping doting grandparents. Despite not having much, Odessa would go into the change drawer and give him extra money to buy snacks. When Shaq was in his grandma’s care, she even relaxed Lucille and Philip’s rules to let him play longer. He said on the podcast that he’d be the spoiling grandparent just like Odessa.

Could you blame him? Shaq once expressed disdain for his mother’s family who left her in a time of need. Lucille described her grandmother as abusive in her book, Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go. She was apparently not sympathetic when Lucille fell pregnant. Shaq said they kicked her out when she was pregnant. Lucille managed to graduate high school, find a job, and raise Shaq by herself for the first six years of his life on welfare and her humble salary all thanks to her supportive mother.

This and more stories about our favorite stars’ childhoods will be narrated on Raising Fame hosted by Lucille O’Neal and Sonya Curry.

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Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.