Years after his retirement, Shaquille O'Neal still remains relevant in the game of basketball as an analyst. Back in his playing days, he looked up to the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon. Now, he sees sports pundit Stephen A. Smith as his mentor.
Speaking with Brody Miller of The Times-Picayune, O'Neal admitted that he is striving to achieve the level where Stephen A. Smith is at right now in the world of sports journalism. He shared that he doesn't necessarily ask him a ton of questions about their profession, but rather, he observes him intently:
“I'm trying to get as good as Stephen A. I'm almost there.”
“I don't ask him anything. I watch him. Stephen A. is my mentor. With Stephen A. and a couple other guys, I'm trying to get there.
Shaq added that apart from being a mentor, he's also good friends with Smith. He noted that whenever he has a bad night at work, Smith gives him some advice:
“The good thing about Stephen A. being one of my best friends, when I have a terrible night he'll call me and tell me. ‘You need to work on this. You need to work on that.'
“The first year I was trying to be on my Bryant Gumbel professionalism, and he would just call me all the time, ‘That's not you. We don't want to see you like that. It don't make sense.'”
Indeed, years after his retirement, Shaq remains as entertaining as ever. With his recent admission of who he looks up to, perhaps he has a lot more in store for us in his fledgling career as a basketball analyst and pundit.
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