- O’Neal settled with local business owner without having $2,000 to his name
- Over the next two decades, O’Neal earned more than $500 million from the NBA.
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NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal revealed that he wore a suit at the 1992 NBA Draft that he couldn’t afford.
College basketball’s greatest player was nearly bankrupt 20 years before the name, image and likeness appeared. Before being selected number one overall by the Orlando Magic and earning $3 million in his rookie year, O’Neal did not have $2,000 to his name when he left LSU.
While former NBA commissioner David Stern read O’Neal’s name for the first time at the draft in Portland, Shaq accepted the honor after reaching a deal with a local store owner. he told PEOPLE.
Over the course of O’Neal’s 19-year career, he earned over $500 million and has since earned more from his broadcasting career and business ventures.
“I just went to a suit store and bought a suit on consignment,” O’Neal told PEOPLE. ‘The lawsuit cost $1,500. At that time I didn’t have $1,500.”
O’Neal is one of the best centers in NBA history, but he couldn’t afford his suit in his NBA Draft
O’Neal’s NBA career spanned 19 seasons with six different teams, including the Lakers.
“The guy looked at me and said, ‘Shaq, you’re nice. You’re a gentleman. I know you are going to do great things. Pay me when you can,” O’Neal added.
O’Neal said the owner gave him two suits worth $3,000.
The deal stemmed from what O’Neal said was “Rochester’s big and tall at the time” and his draft day circumstances are part of what led him to design his big and tall clothing line with JCPenney.
O’Neal added that his two suits came in different colors, one his mother preferred more than the other. O’Neal wanted a “muddy green,” but he ended up choosing his mother’s choice of an “aquatic ocean green.”
O’Neal, then 20 years old, paired his suit with a white dress shirt, maroon tie and white pocket square.
Good thing he had the right fashion, as O’Neal ended up becoming one of the best big men in NBA history as a 15-time All-Star.