Way to go SHAQ!

[payitoff]

saw this on FB:

When Shaquille O'neal was drafted into the NBA, he spent the first million that he earned within 30 minutes. O'neal then received a phone call from his banker, who scolded him, and told him that he would end up joining the list of former athletes who ended up broke if the current trend continued.

O'neal decided to sharpen up his education on business and finance. He returned to college, completing his Bachelor's degree, followed by his M.B.A, and lastly, his Ed.D. That's right, he is now Dr. Shaquille O'neal.

As of today, Shaq is the joint owner of 155 Five Guys Burgers restaurants, 17 Auntie Annie's Pretzels restaurants, 150 car washes, 40 24-hour fitness centers, a shopping center, a movie theater, and several Las Vegas nightclubs.

In addition to his business holdings, O'neal still earns $22 million per year (roughly $423,000 per week) from his endorsement deals with Arizona Creme soda, Icy Hot, Gold Bond, Buick, Zales, and at least a half dozen additional corporate sponsors. He is also a studio analyst for TNT.

In Shaq's own words, "It is not about how much money you make. The question is are you educated enough to KEEP it."

[arebelspy]

Shaq's LinkedIn profile:

[greenmimama]

Good for him, he would be the perfect guy to start classes for all rookies in professional sports, teach them some wisdom on how to keep their money!

[greaper007]

Really cool, I always find it sad that lottery winners and professional athletes usually have the worst fall from grace financial stories.

Still....it's always easier to be financially successful when you come in with a fortune already in place.   I prefer to hear about people that came from nothing and achieved greatness without any particular talents.    As a talentless person, that gives me hope.

[sol]

it's always easier to be financially successful when you come in with a fortune already in place.   I prefer to hear about people that came from nothing and achieved greatness without any particular talents.    As a talentless person, that gives me hope.

I guarantee you that Shaq was born talentless.  He could not dunk the day he was born.  He was not a savvy business-toddler.  Every ounce of talent he or anyone else has was earned the exact same way, with lots of practice.

It pains me to see people blame their condition on a lack of talent.  We're all born exactly equal in the talent game (though maybe not the money or privilege game) so talent is the one thing that you have 100% control over. 

[greaper007]

it's always easier to be financially successful when you come in with a fortune already in place.   I prefer to hear about people that came from nothing and achieved greatness without any particular talents.    As a talentless person, that gives me hope.

I guarantee you that Shaq was born talentless.  He could not dunk the day he was born.  He was not a savvy business-toddler.  Every ounce of talent he or anyone else has was earned the exact same way, with lots of practice.

It pains me to see people blame their condition on a lack of talent.  We're all born exactly equal in the talent game (though maybe not the money or privilege game) so talent is the one thing that you have 100% control over.

People like Shaq are freaks, very few people are born with that level of raw ability.    I agree that you have to develop the raw ability into something, but it won't work for everyone.   My dad desperately wanted me to be good at sports and I funneled countless hours in wrestling, golf and baseball.   

Eventually, I was a notch below mediocre.

[sol]

People like Shaq are freaks, very few people are born with that level of raw ability.   

And this is where we differ, because I do not believe in "raw ability".  Any mediocre 12 year old could have mopped up with 6 year old Shaq.  He wasn't born good at basketball, he cultivated that skill with practice.  More practice than you or I put in.

All humans are born equivalent blank slates.  There is no such thing as innate talent, only acquired skill.  If someone else is better at something than you are, it is because they have practiced it more than you have.  Stop telling yourself you're talentless and start practicing.

[pachnik]

I used to watch a fair amount of basketball in the late 90's /early 2000's when my city had an NBA team.  i remember really liking the Lakers when Shaq played for them.  This is a great thread.  I am really pleased that he is smart with money.  I always find it sad when big sports or entertainment stars end up bankrupt due to trusting the wrong people, or just blowing all their money.

[greaper007]

People like Shaq are freaks, very few people are born with that level of raw ability.   

And this is where we differ, because I do not believe in "raw ability".  Any mediocre 12 year old could have mopped up with 6 year old Shaq.  He wasn't born good at basketball, he cultivated that skill with practice.  More practice than you or I put in.

All humans are born equivalent blank slates.  There is no such thing as innate talent, only acquired skill.  If someone else is better at something than you are, it is because they have practiced it more than you have.  Stop telling yourself you're talentless and start practicing.

1. He's enormous.   You can't learn height.

2. You'll find that many professional athletes are good at more than one sport.   Is this because they constantly use their bodies thus they're tuned into physical activity?   Maybe.   Or maybe they're just born with a different genetic makeup than the rest of us.    Slow to fast twitch muscle fibers, incredible vision (look up the average vision of a major league baseball player and compare it to the average joe) and other attributes that lead them to a successful life in sports.

I completely agree that hard work will generally get you further than simple talent.    But true success requires that talent and work join forces.    I've found that pursuing an area where you already have talent will lead to much greater returns than putting effort into something you're only mediocre at.    As I said before, I put countless hours into sports and never really had a return.   However, I started cooking in college with zero training and I'm now the best cook in the family.    I studied and worked hard at it, but the work was a lot more rewarding in terms of skill than anything I did with sports.

[Cromacster]

I personally like that he bought two Lamborghinis and had them modified into one car so he could fit.  Probably part of the million he spent in the first half hour haha.

[sol]

1. He's enormous.   You can't learn height.

Of course.  Shaq was never going to be a world class gymnast.  I'm not saying we're not born with distinct physical attributes, I'm saying we're born without any skills.  All talent is learned.

2. You'll find that many professional athletes are good at more than one sport.

I call this more practice.  Playing tennis will make you better at football, compared to someone who has never played any sport at all.  Listening to the radio will make you better at playing the guitar.  Tons of skills cross-pollinate, which is why you can take thirty kids who have never played lacrosse and after the first practice you can tell who are going to be your star players and who are never going to play collegiate lacrosse, but it's not because some of those kids have innate lacrosse skills.  It's because they've played football or run track or whatever else has helped them practice their coordination and speed.