Many people know Shaquille O’Neal has the dominant center who helped Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers win three NBA Championships (not to mention one more championship with the Miami Heat)— but what many people don’t know is that the former NBA star likes to perform random acts of kindness. And while he doesn’t ever publicize these good deeds, every so often someone catches it on camera and shares it on social media.
Just this week, for example, the TNT analyst was casually shopping at a Zales store in Atlanta and overheard a stranger discussing a payment plan for an engagement ring he was hoping he could afford to buy for his girlfriend. Shaq, 49, couldn’t help but be moved by the young man’s plight and stepped in offering to pay for the ring himself. The gesture was caught on camera and the video quickly went viral.
When asked about the good deed, Shaq had this to say about his random act of kindness:
“I see the guy come in and he was just so shy and he was saying, ‘Hey, how much do I owe to pay off my ring?’ I just said, ‘My man, how much is the ring?'” Shaq said during a segment on Tuesday night's edition of Inside the NBA. “Young kid — he’s a hardworking guy — he’s like, ‘Hey man, I can come back the next month and the next.’ At first, he was like, ‘I can’t take it.’ I was like, ‘Don’t worry about it. I do this all the time.’
Apparently, Shaq has a habit of paying for people's stuff. He recalled paying for the furniture of a mother with an autistic child when he was out shopping with his mother recently, and not long after, plenty of fans took to Twitter to talk about the time he helped them out as well.
“I’m just trying to make people smile,” he said. I guess swooping in to pay for people's purchases when they're least expecting it is a great way to make that happen!
