Lucille’s Sinlemom on Having Shaquille O’Neal at the Age of 18 After His Biоlоgical Father Left
Shaquille O’Neal is one of the athletes in the world who is both the most famous and the wealthiest. Because of the numerous astute choices he has made in his life regarding money and investments, he is now considered to be one of the wealthiest NBA players of all time.
However, Shaq did not have an easy life as he was growing up. In his younger years, he was forced to struggle in order to provide for his basic needs. Lucille O’Neal, Shaq’s mother, has been very vocal about the difficulties she faced as a single mother while she was raising Shaq and his brothers. They had no choice but to learn to live on a very limited budget.
There were not many opportunities available, and there were not many resources. In order to allow Shaq the opportunity to develop into a player on the highest level of basketball, she had to fight tooth and nail. Lucille O’Neal recalls the difficulties and struggles she faced when she became a teen mom on her own at a young age. Only 18 years old at the time of Shaq’s birth, she became a mother.
“At the time, I was a young adult myself, having only recently graduated from high school. However, I quickly grew up and developed into a woman. “At the time,” she elaborated, “I knew I had a huge responsibility.” She reflects on how challenging it was for her to work and be responsible for children at such a young age. However, the challenges served to strengthen both her and her children.
In an interview with Today, she discussed the challenges she faced as a young mother raising her child alone. “You, at the age of 17, have no idea what you are doing.” Lucille advised, “So you just do the best you can with what you have, and then you just take it one day at a time.”
Shaq does not harbor any bitter feelings toward his biological father for the fact that he did not raise him. He has accepted the reality that his grandfather struggled with a number of things and is now able to move on. In point of fact, while he was on Dr. Phil’s show, he made the statement, “I don’t judge him. I don’t blame him.”
On the other hand, Shaq is grateful for the part that his stepfather played in his life during his formative years. He makes frequent reference to the fact that you corrected his behavior and prevented him from becoming a juvenile offender. In addition to this, he instilled in Shaq a number of good behaviors that would prove to be beneficial to him throughout his career in the NBA. Shaq says that his father taught him how to be a man and that he looks up to him. And now, he plans to continue his family’s legacy by following in his father’s footsteps.
