When Shaquille O'Neal dedicated a song to his estranged father - "I'm saying just because you bring a child into the world doesn't make you a father"
Shaquille O'Neal is widely considered to be one of the most dominant players to have ever played in the NBA. He was feared on the court because of his sheer strength and ability to overpower defenders. He went on to have an impressive career as a 3x NBA Champion, an NBA MVP (2000), a 3x NBA Finals MVP, a 3x All-NBA Defensive Team, and a 15x NBA All-Star.
But it is also known that Shaquille O'Neal did not have the best of relationships when it came to his biological father, Joe Toney. In Shaq's sophomore album, "SHAQ-FU: Da Return", he briefly mentions his father in the lyrics of one of his songs:
"I'm saying just because you bring a child into the world doesn't make you a father," O'Neal said.
The sophomore album was released on November 8, 1994.
Shaquille O'Neal's relationship with his father
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal was born on March 6, 1976, in Newark, New Jersey. His father was Joe Toney and his mother was Lucille O'Neal.
Growing up, Shaq had a complicated relationship with his father because Toney struggled with drug addiction and found himself in trouble with the law, eventually ending up in prison. Shaq's father later gave up all parental rights to O'Neal's stepfather, army sergeant Philip Arthur Harrison.
Due to his military background, Harrison relocated Shaq and his family to Germany. Shaq had his mother and stepfather to look to for guidance as he grew up.
Shaq went on to build a basketball career for himself, from playing amateur basketball at Louisiana State University to making it big in the NBA as he played for the Orlando Magic during his early years and later establishing himself as an NBA icon with the Los Angeles Lakers. During that time, he did not find a reason to reconnect with his father after all those years of growing up without him.
However, when Philip Arthur Harrison died in March 2016, Shaq finally decided that it was time to reconcile with his biological father.
"I don't hate you. I don't judge. I don't have the right to judge. And, being a father, I know it's hard," O'Neal said.
He followed up on what he said to his father by mentioning the time he had without him in his life:
"I had a good life. I had my own room. I had grass to cut. I had neighbors' grass to cut. Wasn't fearin' for my life. I had a couple fights here and there, but it's not like walking around the corner and people shooting at you, and there was heroin and marijuana on the corner. I had a great life and I wasn't complaining," O'Neal said.
O'Neal and his ex-wife Shaunie O'Neal have four children: sons Shareef and Shaqir, as well as daughters Amirah and Me'arah. The athlete also has a stepson, Myles, from Shaunie's previous relationship, as well as a daughter, Taahirah, from his previous relationship with Arnetta Yardbourgh.