Shaq's talking basketball and more in
bookstores across the country, but he lets us in on the L.A.
secrets you won't find in his new autobiography.
"From the court, I sometimes look into the crowd and see people
like
Jack Nicholson,
Jim Carrey,
Christina Aguilera, Denzel
Washington," says Shaquille O'Neal, athlete-actor-rapper, who has
become the superhero of the
Los Angeles Lakers. But the stars
packing the bleachers are diminished by the biggest star of all:
the 7'1", 315-pound center who has stepped into the shoes of
Michael Jordan as
America's premier basketball player. Any doubts
about Shaq's supremacy were quelled when he led the Lakers to the
2000
NBA championship. But Shaq's reign in L.A. - where he lives in
a 15,000-square-foot home with Superman logos on the walkway, in
the flower beds, on doors, and across his bedspread - has been a
long time coming. Growing up overseas on various military bases
with his father, Shaquille joined the Louisiana State University
basketball team at 17 and won just about every honor awarded.
Leaving LSU his junior year, he was the number-one pick in the 1992
NBA draft. Signing with the
Orlando Magic for a record $40 million
for seven years, he became a star, leading the team to the 1995
finals and releasing his first rap album, Shaq Diesel, which went
platinum; Shaq Fu-Da Return, which went gold; and three others. In
1996, he left Orlando for L.A., signing a seven-year, $120 million
contract with the Lakers. In the off-season, he founded his own
music label and clothing line called TWIsM ("The World Is Mine")
and landed starring roles in the films Blue Chips, Kazaam, and
Steel (here as, surprise, a larger-than-life DC Comics superhero).
Last year, he made good on a promise made long ago to his mother:
graduating from college at LSU. Today, Shaq continues to dominate
the court and has just released his long-awaited autobiography,
Shaq Talks Back, in which he tells all about his childhood, his
multifaceted career, and his transformation into basketball's
biggest superstar. Here's a weekend with Shaquille O'Neal in the
city where the world really is his: Los Angeles.