Exploring his diverse talents and eventually making a profit from them both, the basketball Hall of Famer, Shaquille O’Neal, showed strength in his talents, with one becoming his preferred career. Being drafted in the NBA and winning an award, the player turned rapper dropped his debut album that exceeded expectations, selling more than a million copies. This achievement labelled O’Neal as the only professional athlete to have a platinum music album. While we are aware of the fate of the star, the decent amount of profit from the album was one make him prioritize his basketball career.
Shaquille O’Neal’s NBA career
The “Big Shamrock” as he’s known, began his basketball career with the Louisiana State University from 1989 – 1992, being awarded the Adolph Rupp Trophy In 1991 as the NCCA Player of the Year. Being drafted in the NBA, he signed a four-year rookie contract of $17.4 million in 1992 with Orlando Magic. The star won the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1993 and led Orlando Magic to the NBA finals in 1995, before the leaving the team in 1996.
From 1996 to 2004, Shaq played for the Lakers, winning three NBA champions consecutively from 2000. His fourth NBA championship was in 2006, wearing the Miami Heat jersey alongside Dwayne Wade. Teams, the 15-time NBA All-Star also graced is the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics in the years 2008 – 2011. The 2-time NBA Scoring Champion retired from the league in 2011, eventually becoming the Hall of Fame inductee in 2016.
The musical journey of Shaq Diesel
Explaining his feelings about making music while shooting hoops, Shaquille O’Neal expressed his deflated mood after the check from the album saying, “When I did my first album and went platinum and got that little $600,000 check, I was like, ‘All this for that!’ I understand what y’all going through, but I was making so much money doing what I do, when I had that …”
He further said, “… I was like, you know what, for me doing that album was like being with the Waka, being with the CeeLo, being with OutKast, being with all the people I was able to spend the time with.” The star didn’t find the decision to prioritise his NBA career, difficult as his million sold album copies only made him 1/5th of his NBA salary.
While this was the case, O’Neal was grateful for the networks from stars such as The Notorious B.I.G, Jay Z and Nas. These connections motivated him to release more music, which ended with four studio albums, two compilation albums and one unreleased album. The second album was released in 1994 and was called Shaq Fu: Da Return, which didn’t sell out as much as the first album only selling 500,000 albums.
“You can’t stop the Reign” followed in 1996 and “Respect” finalised Shaq’s music albums. The unreleased album is titled Superfriends, Vol 1, with only two songs, that didn’t do well, released. Shaq Diesel retired, rising up as DJ Diesel, who performs gigs such as the EDM performance at Tomorrowland with his son Myles O’Neal.
Shaq’s coins: the legend’s net worth
The Hall of Famer sits on an estimated net worth of around $400 million and $500 million in 2025. The net worth comes from Shaquille O’Neal’s hard work in his NBA career, brand endorsements, business ventures and media and entertainment. From his fruitful NBA career and multiple contracts, O’Neal’s salary amounts to $292 million.
Brands such as Reebok, Pepsi, Icy Hot, Buick and many more have contributed over $200 million to his net worth. He has also invested in lucrative business such as Google, Papa John’s, Krispy Kreme, various car washes, gyms and property while owning multiple restaurant chain that include Auntie Anne’s Five Guys and Big Chicken. Shaq has appeared in media platforms as an analyst on “inside the NBA” and taken roles in a few movies and tv shows plus his music.
Figuring his career out and learning to balance his roles as a star player in the NBA and studio sessions as Shaq Diesel, Shaquille O’Neal prioritized the NBA due to the low income after hard work put in the million sold album copies. Perhaps it was this moment that set Shaq up to be one of the best players in the NBA, leading the Magic to victory and eventually being a Hall of Famer. While his music career isn’t down in flames, the star has explored DJ’ing alongside various business opportunities contributing to his net worth.
