The world knows him as the player who garnered Micheal Jordon's place as the Number 1 player in the N.B.A., to the millions of children he is Shazam the rapping genie in "Kazaam". Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal whose name means "Little Warrior" in Islam, grew up an army brat on overseas bases. At the age of 17 he was signed by the Louisiana State University after being spotted at a basketball clinic in Germany.

Shaquille, whom is known by the nickname Shaq, is much more than a 7 foot 1 inch 300 pound basketball center. He has established himself as a rapper and a movie star. In his spare time he devotes his time and money to good causes. During an interview with SportsLine, Shaq states that his "… my dream is to have a nationwide Thanksgiving for the homeless people in all 50 states." During the same interview, when asked what would surprise his fans most about him his reply was that off the court he is a totally different person than he is on the court. Off the court he is nice person but on the court he is ready to do battle.

Shaq is secretive about his personal life. From the little that is known, he considers his parents to be his best role models because they were real models, people he could talk to and ask questions of. He apparently has a daughter but there is no mention of a wife. During the SportsLine interview he inferred he had more than one child but there is nothing to back this up. He has eight movie and TV credits to his name and is said to be working on his sixth rap music release. His first music release sold over a million copies and the subsequent releases are doing just as well. He claims to have never touched an N.B.A. paycheck and he is the top paid player today. He did obtain his degree which even though it took eight years is commendable. Shaq was born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey.