Either Shaq is the greatest guy in the world or he's the greatest PR machine in the history of sports - maybe he's both! Shaq pays late center's funeral expenses MIAMI (AP) - The family of George Mikan accepted Shaquille O'Neal's offer to pay for the late center's funeral expenses. O'Neal said arrangements were finalized on Friday. "Everything's going to be handled," O'Neal said. Mikan, the NBA's first dominant big man in the 1940s and 50s, died on Wednesday in Arizona following a long fight with diabetes and kidney ailments. He was 80. O'Neal said he greatly enjoyed getting to know and speak with Mikan on several occasions. Shortly after the Miami Heat beat the Detroit Pistons 88-76 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday, O'Neal said he would like to handle the funeral costs. "I heard they were having some trouble, some problems, so if you contact the Heat office, I would like to pay for the funeral," O'Neal said. O'Neal and Mikan are linked by leading the Lakers franchise to multiple NBA championships; Mikan carried the Minneapolis Lakers to five titles in a six-year span. O'Neal led the Los Angeles Lakers to three consecutive championships from 2000-2002.
I think he's just the greatest guy in the world. I don't see why a basketball player, whose never done anything bad in the public eye, would need to boost his PR...particularly the most dominating player ever. Ever seen the Shaq-a-clause thing he does for children? He'll go into a toy store and clean that mug out. Then he loads all the toys on a big truck and drives it himself to a group of less fortunate kids. You can tell when he's doing it that he loves it. You can see it in his face how happy it makes him to help people. He really is a tremendous soul. God bless that man.
hahaha, shaq is like a big kid, you know? he's like a seven foot one, black, jesus mixed in with santa claus or something?...
I would have a higher opinion of Shaq if he would of represented his country in the Olympics last year. Lord knows we could of used him.
That's just a sport, though. Some of the things he does really positively effect people's lives. I don't think it at all takes away from the things he's done because he didn't play in the Olympics. The man is barely able to play right now in the playoffs because of nagging injuries. His immense size is taking a toll on his body's infrastructure. I hate playing grammar nazi, but it sounds like you were looking for these contractions: would've, could've. I only point that out because I've seen it happen a LOT lately.
I don't buy that Chaos, but I still admire other things he does despite that. I wasn't looking for those contractions, but thanks anyways.
I was watching TNT when he said this and after said that I was thinking, is there a better guy in the NBA. People get on him for being a confident black man, but he talks about himself being great just like Bird did. Shaq once said on leno a couple of years ago, that he has never touched any of his nba money, and only uses funds from his endourcement deals.
