Los Angeles Lakers icon Shaquille O'Neal simply wants the best for his daughters. This includes them having a good education, be fully independent, and not to date NBA players.

O'Neal shared his ideal scenario for his daughters earlier this month while promoting his partnership with American Express. O'Neal has three daughters—Taahirah, 24, Amirah, 18, and Me’arah, 14—and his goal for them is to be independent at a certain age.

He also wants to give them the freedom to do what they want, with him guiding the way. But in terms of dating, Shaq doesn't want his daughters near NBA players.

“I want them to be fully educated or … fully independent,” Shaq said, per Riley Cardoza of Us Weekly. “I want them to have most of those goals and once they get 18 on and they become little mini adults, I’m not going to be the dad that says, ‘Do this, do that.’ [I’ll] guide them in the right path.”

When asked if he wanted them to date NBA players, O’Neal told Us, “Probably not.”

It's an interesting yet understandable answer from the 48-year-old. After all, he spent 19 years in the NBA with six different teams, and he has been teammates with hundreds of ballers. He definitely knows how players behave on and off the court.

Shaq not wanting his daughters to get linked with players doesn't necessarily mean that these athletes have a bad rep. Shaq himself has several good friendships with former teammates. Perhaps O'Neal has his own reasons and we can just leave it at that.