If trolling Charles Barkley were a subject, Shaquille O’Neal would have already gotten his PhD. On Saturday, we saw another example when Shaq returned 26 years later in Baton Rouge to receive his master’s degree. In fact, the 4x NBA champion seemingly confirmed days later that he will have more frequent visits to his alma mater, LSU, this time
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O’Neal received his second Master’s degree, a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts (MALA) from LSU. In total, he has four degrees, but he claims to have a fifth one too. “Bachelor’s, two master’s, a doctorate, and a street degree,” said Shaq. After being an avid DJ, a rapper, an investment mogul, and a reserve police officer, it’s time for Shaquille O’Neal to be a teacher. “I’m about to be hired as a professor at LSU.” His co-analysts were in shock and in awe, and Kenny Smith probed further about which class the Los Angeles Lakers legend will actually take.
The answer from Shaq was clear: “A class on mentorship.” Ernie Johnson even added, “Oh, that’s, I know you’re big into that.” O’Neal has been meaningfully contributing to teaching and empowering the next generation. The Big Aristotle already has the ‘Shaq Scholars Program’ in partnership with Campus, which provides underserved students with debt-free degrees. The program helps with full-tuition scholarships, laptops, and hands-on mentorship from industry and Silicon Valley leaders. Teaching at LSU will also help deal with an issue close to his heart.
In December 2024, Shaquille O’Neal revealed why he wanted a mentor while growing up. “I wish I had a professor like this to teach me this stuff. Cuz again I know some of you may look up to me but I’m lucky, I’m one of the luckiest guys in the world,” he said. This was when he was the mentor on the final episode of The Grind, a business plan competition from Campus. The role of a teacher/mentor is to trust and help the student with their plans to achieve success. But Shaq had his idea shut down brutally.
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“I always tell a story how I fail my marketing class similar to this and I came in with Shaq shoes, Shaq shirts, and the guy gave me an F. He said, ‘You didn’t put any thought into it. Big guys never sale’ and I was kind of discouraged.” But then, with Magic Johnson as a mentor, Shaquille O’Neal learned the blueprint for successful business creation, and today he stands with a reported net worth of $500 million.
Shaquille O’Neal trolled Chuck during the ceremony
On Saturday, O’Neal managed to have the faculty member reading out the names of the degree-earners call him, “Shaquille ‘I Hate Charles Barkley’ O’Neal,” which resulted in an outburst of laughter from the crowd. It was another moment of banter between the two as they shared a close bond on Inside the NBA. But O’Neal jokingly denied the video being real.
“Virtual World America. Whoever put that video together did a great AI job. I would never do Charles Barkley like that. That was AI.” As Shaquille O’Neal downplayed his joke. But Chuck never took offense to it and even congratulated the 4x NBA champion for completing another degree. “Hey, listen, man. I’m so proud you got your GED. You make your family proud. That’s a great accomplishment. I’m proud of you.”
And now Shaq is poised to take his mentoring skills back to LSU. A place where he had the platform to showcase his basketball ability and a community that still adores him.
