NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has gone down in the history books as one of the greatest centers to step on a basketball court. You can see and hear him regularly during the NBA season on ESPN’s Inside the NBA. But as successful as he was on the court and remains in the studio, he is a bigger businessman than his towering presence. Through partnerships, sponsorships and straight-out ownership, he brings to business the same mindset that shaped his sports analysis and basketball court performance in his younger years. Now, Shaq shares directly with The Root some of the keys he’s used to build his business portfolio.
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Shaq’s Guide to Business Success
Lesson 1: Find Your Motivation
Growing up with a father in the service, Shaq learned life lessons he still incorporates today. At the age of 12, he was told that the decisions he made in business might affect his mother later in life. That stuck with the NBA Hall of Famer. Now, that’s real-life pressure.
“I remember my father telling me one day, if you mess up in business, your mama gonna lose her house,” Shaq told The Root.
Once Shaq knew he was heading to the NBA, his father gave him more sage advice. Shaq needed to make sure not only that the finances were correct, but also strong enough to avoid the financial traps that led professional players before him into bankruptcy.
Quoting his father, Shaq recalled him saying, “‘Hey, man, you gonna make it to the NBA. But when you make it to the NBA, all these guys — they had a lot of money — they lost all their money.’” He added, “‘If you buy your mama a house, and you lose all that money, then your mama gonna lose the house.’ That sh*t stuck with me, so I take pride. And taking care of business, — I just take pride to keep going.”
To this day, he has gone on record to say, “I do all of this for her.”
Lesson 2: Put Together a Team With the Right Players Who Know Their Roles
Coming from a sports background where the philosophy was “there is no I in team,” Shaq has incorporated that mindset in his businesses. Every component plays a part. Every person has a role, and when everyone does what needs to be done in their position, success is more likely to follow.
“I have a great team. Everything about my life, my brand was built on basketball, so everything is basketball-related. I got a point guard. I got a shooting guard. I got a power forward, I’m the center. I’m the one who’s gonna bring it on, so I delegate a lot of the things that need to be done to my other people, and then, you know, they throw me the ball, and then I do what I have to do.”
Lesson 3: Use Past Failures and Mistakes To Better Yourself
In history, whether in sports, business or life, the winner is typically one who has experienced loss or failure and has learned to appreciate and accept success. Many successful people have stated that failing many times leads to success, with the lesson being that winners never quit.
Shaq is living proof. For many years, he played professional sports, but he did not come out on top every time. Those lessons learned while losing only enhanced the desire to win and fueled the determination to win even more. It happens in business.
“Like, I mess up this time. What should I do next time? Like, a lot of us fail, and we just give up. I don’t give up.”
“I used failure as motivation, you know, so you have to just keep on pushing, keep on pushing, keep on pushing.”
Everyone — well, at least New Yorkers — knows that Magic Johnson connected with Starbucks to bring the coffeehouse to the “hood,” but Shaq said not taking an offer to partner with Starbucks may have been his “worst business decision.”
According to Shaq, the Starbucks CEO told him, “‘I want to put Starbucks in the hood,’” but Shaq didn’t see his vision. “I never seen anybody drink coffee in the hood growing up,” he said. “So I said to the man, you know, I don’t think this idea is gonna work. Black people don’t like coffee. He was offering a lot, but I’ve always said to myself, if I don’t believe in it, or if I don’t understand it, I can’t take your money.”
Reflecting on the outcome, Shaq said, “Magic Johnson ended up doing the deal. That’s why sometimes when it comes to business, just ’cause you’re a businessman doesn’t mean you still know everything.”
Lesson 4: Educate Yourself Through Every Means
We have been told since our youth that education is important, and it is. We were also taught that in order to be successful, we must obtain a college degree. From as young as Shaq can remember, his parents stressed the importance of education, especially because his mother’s pregnancy at an early age thwarted her plans to go to college. And although he graduated from college, went to the NBA and instantly became rich, he still went back and got a master’s in business administration. Then he got a doctorate. Yet, as Shaq noted, having a degree doesn’t always lead to success.
“The process of education now is really starting to shift because a lot of people are educated and not really getting the jobs they want, so they’re starting to shift a little bit. So, you know, to me, education is learning something that you don’t know.”
“We were always taught to get an education. You have to have a college degree, but the owner of my company, the Authentic Brands Group, doesn’t have a college degree, and it’s a $33 billion company. But he educated himself on retail. So, back in our day, it was education, it was books and going to college. Now, education is so broad and advanced. Just make sure you get the proper information and just educate yourself.”
So, the Los Angeles Lakers legend, who is still educating himself, is still learning. Shaq is doing the necessary work not only to stay in business but also to expand, elevate and make the Shaq brand a bigger and better entity.
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