"Be there for him, teach him to be respectful, love him, play with him" - Shaquille O'Neal gives advice to first time dad Kyle Sandilands, tells him to be prepared when they get older
Shaquille O'Neal was raised properly by his parents, Dr. Lucille O'Neal and "Sarge" Philip Harrison. O'Neal has done the same thing to his six children —Taahirah, Myles, Shareef, Amirah, Shaqir and Me'arah. The LA Lakers legend also has some advice for first-time dad, Kyle Sandilands.
O'Neal was a recent guest on "The Kyle and Jackie O Show" in Australia. One of the topics discussed was Sandilands being a father for the first time. The four-time champ shared some sound advice for the 51-year-old radio host, who had a son earlier this month.
"Just be there for him, teach him how to be respectful, love him, play with him because these first years are going to be fabulous," O'Neal said. "They're going to get great. They're going to get better. As soon as they get around seve, eight, nine, ten, you're gonna be tested.
"11, 12, 13, tested even more. 15, 16, 17, when they think they're adults, the real test comes in. But if you do everything before that, you shouldn't have any problems. Good luck."
O'Neal was in Australia for a couple of speaking engagements, including an event called "An Evening with Shaquille O'Neal." It was held on Thursday at the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne. Shaq was in Australia for the first time in about 20 years.
The four-time NBA champ will also hold a seminar on Friday at The Star Event Center in Sydney. It should be noted that these events are not NBA-related. However, O'Neal is open to the idea of bringing an NBA game to Australia in the future.
The NBL is one of the top leagues in the world, producing players such as LaMelo Ball and Josh Giddey. Meanwhile, the men's national team recently won a bronze medal at the 2022 Tokyo Olympics.
Some of the best Aussies in the NBA include Giddey, Ben Simmons, Patty Mills, Matisse Thybulle and Joe Ingles.
Shaquille O'Neal and his family
Shaquille O'Neal was raised by his mother Lucille O'Neal and stepfather "Sarge" Philip Harrison. O'Neal grew up in Newark, New Jersey and San Antonio, Texas. He was married to Shaunie O'Neal for seven years. They have four children together — Shareef, Amirah, Shaqir and Me'arah.
O'Neal also adopted Shaunie's first-born son, Myles, from a previous relationship. His oldest daughter is Taahirah and her mother is Arnetta Yardbourgh, Shaq's former girlfriend. Taahirah is currently taking his Master's degree while working as an executive for Pepsi.
Meanwhile, Myles is a DJ and a model earning six figures. Shareef is trying to become an NBA player like his father. He signed a deal with the G League Ignite Team. Amirah and Shaqir are both college basketball players at Texas Southern University.
The youngest child, Me'arah, is still in high school. She also plays basketball and already has offers from universities such as UCLA and Virginia.