 You're getting the statue You've seen it yet. I haven't you haven't seen it at all yet. No, I've seen drawings of it I haven't seen the actual statue yet You've only seen drawings of it and I hope it's not life-size. There's gonna be a bronze shortage if they use it all Are you you're a Marvel fan, then I'm guessing Superman superman Growing up as a medium juvenile delinquent always on punishment they said opportunity to watch TV and just see superheroes and Get entrenched inside the stories that they were telling Superman was always one Six million dollar man was another one. I always wanted to be be him Hulk was another one. I got in trouble for being a hawk one time One time we saw a car that we thought was abandoned, but it wasn't it was just stolen It was just sitting there. So me and my friend I play the Hulk and I'm ripped off the mirrors I just ripped off the doors. I ripped off everything. I got I got in a really big trouble for that one How did they know it was you that did all the damage instead of the person who stole the car? Because everybody was out there. Oh, everybody's on I was going Oh, and I took a break and button windows and you know, the guy found his car I was like who did this is like Shaquille O'Neal. He did it Came right to my house. You're like, but some other guy he scratched up your lock really good when he stole the car Yeah, so Marvel and the end Superman appeal It seems weird punishment to put you in a place where you can watch TV and read comics and Hang out and watch six million dollar man. You you you accomplish that goal You got a lot more than six million dollars out of it. It actually changed my life You know, it helped me it helped me put down on paper what I wanted to become So just say I'm flicking the channels and I see LL Kujet. I'm gonna be a rapper Say flick the channel again. I see a guy doing a great sitcom. I want to be actor then of course. I'm a sports guy I want to be Franco Harris the Immaculate Conception. I want to be Reggie Jackson hit a home run so it Enable me to put down on paper All these things I wanted to be and then my father taught me the way and say, okay You want to be all these things? It's how you do it go out and get it done I've accomplished everything that I set my mind to so wait you wrote down all your goals when you're younger Yes, my father made me right from A to C what I wanted to be so a was a basketball player B was a basketball But I actually got in trouble for that. You just put basketball player for all the fight See was a cop and indeed was a detective E was an entrepreneur You know F was a fireman So like I just did like a whole bunch of things that I thought I wanted to do and you've gone Through and and try to knock all that stuff off the bucket list Yes, I made a list of things that you you're doing before but I figured I would ask now because it seems like there's a lot of things That you've done. I mean why why now? Law enforcement what's going on there? Why that well? I? Two guys that are on my panel want to remember my panel my panel is Is a group of five men and women? Consistent for a total of five, but but men and women two of the guys that are on my panel are my uncles from the law enforcement My panel consists of Lucille O'Neill Mike Paris Jerome Crawford Dale Brown and Perry Rogers. That's my panel They're the they're the only ones that can call me and check me and I know not to say anything back Okay, they love me and they care for me and you know when you respect somebody see a lot of people in my position think They know it all they know anybody that could respect I have a panel It's like me being the president, but I answer to Congress So that's my panel, but two guys on the panel my uncle's in their law enforcement officer So I said to myself one day and you know this was on my list as a youngster So one day I want to want to be a cop, but I don't think I'm you know with me being shacked You being a cop probably wouldn't be too good, but I think I Think I can lead a force I want a room for sheriff. So when I started pursuing that here in Los Angeles Like a lot of people would give me badges and I was like, you know what? Yeah If you give me a badge when I go out on the street, the office is not going to inspect me So I made them put me through two different police academies I share of Leroy Baca was the sheriff at the time and he approved and I had to go through Through two different academies and I became a full-fledged reserve officer level one Level three a security guard status level two is you have to route another officer level one You could ride by yourself. You have full-fledged police officer duties and I Studied to a level one and I did that because when I do run for sheriff I know I could probably get a lot of votes just from being shot sure But I really want my people that's working for me to know and understand. I know my laws I know what it you know what you go through. I know what it takes I want them to know and understand that and I've been a lot of places around the country with a lot of police police officers And it's like, you know, we really really appreciate because I appreciate them, you know teachers and police officers are definitely underpaid Yeah, my mom was a teacher. So I heard all about that. Yeah, they're underpaid. Yeah I mean, well, you're you're underpaid for it. Have you taken a dollar a year, right? Yeah, I guess No, it's crazy. They tax that of course. Yeah, so you get 46. Really? Because the bracket yeah What have you learned on the job that you've been able to use or what do you learn on the team anyway? Maybe that you've been able to use as a police officer like deescalation techniques and get along with people and stuff like that Well, I always come in always come in at zero a lot of times when you deal with people You just listen first instead of react a lot of situations are dangerous So you have to come in high but now a lot of situations where it's just people They're talking to arguing just try to have to just try to deescalate the situation You know how the fortunate thing for me is when I show up people just calm down automatically So that's the fortunate thing. Yeah for me. It was just about Learning it mastering it. So when I do run for sheriff The guys know I'm not just a celebrity figure, right? I want to badge in a gun. So I've been Let's see. I went to went to LA Academy Did did a Florida Academy did a Phoenix Academy Get ready to go through a Georgia Academy because plan on running for sheriff in either Georgia or Florida in 2020 I had a dream. I had a dream that I saw a bunch of uh I saw a bunch of stickers on the cars shack's vision for 2020 shack for sheriff 2020 nice So you're actually gonna run for office. I'm thinking about it. Yeah, I'm really thinking about and what sort of policy You think I'll put in place as the as the elected sheriff. It'll be paramilitary Marshall all around. No, not not much. I hope not just you know discipline That's a friend of mine and clayton county Sheriff victor hill and my man. I'm a couple months ago. He has the cleanest most disciplined jail. I've ever seen in my life So I'm definitely gonna get to know him a little better study his tactics Because that's how I grew up and you know teaches the the the young men and women that are in there And teaches them have to be responsible teaches them honor And no, he doesn't apply way. There's no nothing crazy in there But it's just so much like his floors were shining and the pods and the cells the clothes were folded and When he walks in the guy standing attention and salute It was really awesome to say because I've been to gels where people You know seven eight guys in the cell they're in there fighting and doing this and doing that But his jail was very disciplined. So I'm definitely gonna be studying his techniques I think I think a lot of people would definitely vote for you because of the celebrity But it's good that you're trying to earn the same respect as the other officers Otherwise you end up with the same problem that that people have now we have a lack of a of real authority And what what happens when people show up to or when you show up to a call with other people there I mean did they just go holy crap a check or other people who don't know who you are and they're just like Dang at first when first when I was on patrol in LA it was it got to be you know Got to be sort of like a Like a tv sitcom like I'd pull up in my suit and everybody Is that check and you see guys call across the street and call on the phone And I got promoted to detective. So a lot of time when I show up as detective People think it's a joke or not. So what I started doing was as detective when we go on four or five detectives I will come in last I'll let all the you know the real cops going first let everybody know what's going on so everybody knows the serious moment And then I'll come in because if I come in first people shack, hello Hey, I saw you at the game. Yeah, where's the cameras? Yes, exactly How often do you hear comments about your height and I assume all the time right all the time and you know what? I learned at an early age not to take things so seriously Yeah, I hear jokes. Uh, how's the weather up there? I hear I hear it all I'm glad I didn't start I'm at the point in my life now. I've I've actually been here a long time. Nothing really hurt my feelings I think the times we're living in people are very sensitive like Like I don't know you but I'm sure if we just have a good conversation And again when having to come say we don't have to agree on everything. Yeah, I respect you you respect me I guarantee we have something in common to a lot of people these days You you think a certain way and you try to influence me to think that way The world's the world wasn't built like that every fingerprint is different Every dna is different and and everybody's opinion is different and a lot of times we react to people's opinions without listening True story. That's a guy fashion guy dresses kind of like Name is jimmy goldstein. I think it's his name. He told me one day during the game. I hate you What? Oh, that's rude. Yeah. No, he said I hate you. So I'm boom boom boom But I was seeing him at all the parties with us boom boom boom. So I finally I said, he's just he's a small guy So usually when a guy says, I hate you. I'm gonna. Okay. Well, I hate you too. Let's fight about it He's a real skinny guy. So I asked him. I said, why do you hate me? He said because you're so dominant. It's unfair I want to see you lose So rather than reacting to what he said by me having a conversation when I understood that And I could understand you're a fan. You want your team to win? But you're going up against this guy Shaq that's throwing people around. I can understand the hatred So that was a valuable lesson for me because like when people say something my reaction button is off My intelligent button is on. Okay. What did you say? What do you mean? And I analyze it and I analyze in a nice way before I react How do you do that? It was especially when you did you do that when you were 22 23 years? No, no when I was 22 23 I try to answer Everybody's criticism and I realized that it's more than a full-time job It becomes stressful. You start getting anxiety and then I realized that you can't please everyone. Yeah, and You know, this is the same thing I tell my children now So you see your hands five fingers on your hand try to impress the five most important people in your life That's my panel So as long as they're happy, I'm happy like whenever I start doing something crazy One two three four five will let me know that I have to switch it back up How did you pick the panel? I mean one is your mother was my mother two of my uncles. They always kept me out of trouble Yeah, and Perry is my uh agent business manager been been out for a long time And Perry is brutally honest. He's not one of those KYA type agents. I don't know if I can say kiss your ass on your podcast Yeah, you can yeah, he's not one of those agents. So like you'll tell you like What you said last night was on call for boom boom boom. He's very Very intelligent. He's a lawyer You know lawyers think very different. So, you know, he you know, he wants the best for me And it's something that I appreciate and respect crazy thing about Perry. We're we're similar ages So like he's probably the youngest guy on the panel. He's around my age But very intelligent come from very intelligent Family father was a brilliant business man. Mother was a brilliant business woman So, uh, you know, when you respect people You listen to them, especially people that that help you get to where you are How did you pick when did you pick that panel? I should say because you Did you pick it before your career started? Never I had to go through a lot of trials and tribulations before I figured all that stuff out And you know experience is the best teacher and You know, I have my basic core principles. Uh, stay true to myself Have fun Never never take advantage of people never disrespect people And then as I started getting older, I started adding more You know business, you know practical things Inside that formula and then I realized a movie to change my life was the fan Robert DeNiro and Wesley Snipes So Wesley Robert DeNiro asked Wesley said, hey, you're a great player You do this you do that boom boom boom boom and uh, Wesley Snipes said I don't care So I had to stop caring not caring to the sense to where it would You know affect my profession, but just stop caring about what people said once I started doing that Blossomed nice. So you you actually went through a phase where you just went I care about everything. Yeah Like Shaq Only thing Shaq can do is dunk. He can't shoot jumpers. So the next game I go Three for 25 trying to shoot jumpers So you're just always challenging yourself to figure out Always always and you've been successful for a long time How come you didn't fall into those same traps that a lot of other athletes did is it the panel? Is that was that panel and before the panel a lot of children don't do this today But when I see tragic stories, I don't want to go that route One tragic story when Lynn bias passed away from using cocaine My father came in the house furious Furious If you ever do this, I'll kill you. You don't have time to overdose. I'll kill you. So I always say, you know what? No drugs for me Uh One time true story in Germany, west Germany friends This is around, you know, when you're a teenager and you get to go to parties You know parents asleep when you come home All the friends were into beer drinking. Yeah, let's drink some beer So one night snowstorm because I lived in wild flick in the schools in fold So it's about a 50 minute ride. So one time we go to the dance and you know, the guys had a beer and you know One of the guys had his license Dad was out of town. He took his car and said hey, let's ride home and the guys was drinking and I was like You know what? Uh, no, you know, I heard a lot of stories about what happened And tragic ending they died. Oh my gosh. Wow. So that could have been you really easy Yeah, it could have been me. So like a lot of a lot of things I've I've seen before they happen And I don't want to go down that that rope. My father's always come in and say All right, you had 30 points. But what you're gonna do when you hurt your knee? Because it's a astonishing percentage of Athletes that after they're done playing they have nothing and we didn't want to be Part of that statistic. Yeah 60% are broke. I think within five years of retirement or something like that. Yeah I mean, it's it's a it's really sad. I mean, you don't have that problem You're still working probably because you got six kids. You got to work How did you deal with not only becoming the most valuable player or visible player in the league but also a celebrity at the same time? I mean a lot of guys are going through the same visibility role, but you had All kinds of things going on. How come it didn't get out of control? I think it just never got out of control because even to this day, I don't consider myself a celebrity My story is like a rocky story Guy from the neighborhood That's loved and respected in the neighborhood had an opportunity to do something You know do something for a community or do something for a state or do something for a nation That's my story. My story is not superstar entourage 50 agents 100 diamond chains. That's my story is a regular guy See me. I'm in the car by myself today. I'm in LA by myself I go to a lot of cities. I go to countries by myself I don't consider myself a superstar and When people come up to me, especially children, I always got to take care of children I just try to Accommodate them unless I'm eating when I'm in the middle of the middle and rather not be interrupted But if I'm out and I see a little baby and they want my autograph Of course, I always oblige them But I think what's made me relevant and and you know in all these situations is that I don't consider myself a superstar I'm just a regular guy from the neighborhood That did something in stylish and won three champions in LA one of Miami You know, he was a guy. He was always in trouble. He was a juvenile delinquent. We knew he could be somebody That's more of my story. That's yeah, that's great Especially if you're not thinking of yourself as somebody extra special all the time No, I don't do that it manages the expectations pretty well I think too and you've always approached the even basketball as a business And so was your panel advising you on that and I'm sticking with the panel thing because I think it's such a Great idea and most people are not doing this. Clearly the athletes that are going broke are not doing this when I first came in I was upset before it came in because I got an f in marketing marketing teacher LSU said give me something product something that you can see Sold in the future not now So, you know me I came with Shaq hats Shaq shoes Shaq shirts And he embarrassed me in class. He said oh, I see you put a lot of originality in this And gave me an f in front of everybody and I asked him so what you do? He said if you look at If you look at the the nature of marketing and NBA big guys never sell I was like, you know what? Don't sell so when I first got in You know, you hear a lot of stories that the number one pick and Name whatever he wants. So when I first got in I was like, you know, let me let me try this theory I want this I want this I want to be able to have creative control over all my commercials. I'm not doing it Somebody's at the time he got it done. So every commercial that We shot My thought process is okay. That's how I want people to see me This is the message I want to send And at the end all these commercials I want to I want to add a fun aspect to it And I derived it that mentality because I'm looking at all the commercials like big guys don't sell My favorite commercial was the spuds Mackenzie commercials never talk. Yeah Dog never said anything. But what why did people why did this dog have shirts mugs? Hats everything book bags Because he always added a fun element in his commercial. So I was like, you know what every commercial I'm doing It's got to have a fun element product is a product But after that I'm gonna give them like this in the Buick or a man up or you know something How are you gonna teach your kids some of the same values that you had? With your panel growing up. I mean, do your kids have panels and stuff like that? They don't have panels. I try to I try to do lead by example Uh, I try to teach him the same life lessons that I was taught yesterday. We're at the mall. My son said, uh, I want to get some joints. I said, well, you're gonna have to donate 10 pair of your old shoes I already did that. I said, well, you need to prove to me and he actually did him and my other son they went down to the Goodwill and they just donated their stuff and We used to do that as a young son like my father We used to go to Goodwill and pick up some stuff and take it to all that, you know, the other troop families that were less unfortunate My father Always loved homeless people. I love homeless people. My grandmother was a nurse. So My mother and I started a foundation. We've we've sent over 100 nurses to college four-year scholarships, so I just try to lead by example and I don't put pressure on them. Like I got a couple sons that play ball. We don't even talk about the ball It's not important to me. What's important to me that That they that they build What I started One of my favorite nepotism stories is is nick and mickey erison So article comes out in the paper that uh, uh, nick erison's grandmother Left them 100 and 200 and this guy's 19 went uh went to college and graduated So he comes back and joined the team It's a guy there worth 200 million dollars cleaning up the locker room And i'm looking i'm like this kid's worth too. He should be up hanging out with his dad because yeah here That's what you see right a lot of kids that hanging out with dad and dad does everything for him But you had a kid worth 200 million this document his grandmother left him 150 million plus 20 facility team. Wow. He's down in the locker room cleaning up next year You see him in marketing and then you see him doing you see him outside boom boom hand in our flowers And then finally about five six years his father Now I think went to school and graduated and learned the business from the bottom Then his father said okay boom and I think he made him vice president that that's one of my favorite nepotism stories and I have to do the same thing You know rather than just give it to him like I tell my kids all the time You get no degrees then you get none of my cheese That's my slogan around my house No degrees no cheese. They're all looking forward to college. Yeah. Yeah, they gotta be You mentioned shoes earlier. You got the biggest pair of tom's shoes that I've ever seen and I thought all right Where do you get shoes that big you have to have things custom made? I've seen I fell in love with tom's about three years ago. I see people wearing like what is that? And his story is incredible. You buy you buy a pair with donated pair love that story so every person that I How can I get the time they give me a number didn't work. Give me a number didn't work Finally about two years later. I've seen the the owner of tom's him and his wife We met in westwood and I said, uh, listen. I love your product. How can I get a pair? He's like shack beyond switch you We don't have the 22 mold I'm like, I can't I can't slow production down to make one shoe I said, well, what's a what's a good production day? I said about a thousand pair. So it will make me a thousand pair then so Uh, I got a thousand pair that I ordered. I'm only into my first hundred and uh We're we're in discussions We want to go to like one of these third world countries and you know, I hand out some shoes And find people with huge feet who need shoes. No, not huge for just whoever. Okay. Got you these babies yet Whoever yeah, tom's is the right company to do that with that's for sure. It sounds like In the past you've been competitive with pretty much everything not just basketball I've read an article online. I think it might have been already so articles using it loosely But yeah, the biggest bed in the world and then someone challenged you and said no I think my bed's bigger. So you doubled the size of your bed. Yes, that's true. I'm very very competitive You know, it's all about having fun. Yeah, it's all about having fun. I'm I'm the doctor The ambassador the emperor of fun. Nobody has more fun than me and our fun is genuine. It's not I've been I've been a class clown since elementary school, you know, I The fun that I'm having now he's getting in trouble for us. Yeah, but it's called having a sense of humor I'm gonna take myself too seriously and you know, it's just you know, it's just interacting with people and Some guy he tried to make a bed and then I just had to double my bed and I have more space So if I have to make my whole room a bed, I will that's why they call it a bedroom, right? You had some beefs in the past from that competitive spirit when there's a conflict on a team How do you address that and then move towards the goal? It's never beefs My whole concept was it could only be one leader And you can't be a good leader if your followers don't trust and respect you, right? So I always had to make sure I was doing everything right before I challenged anybody and then a lot of times Like for example the Kobe situation. I knew Kobe could take it And I knew that if you upset him He he he's he's sort of like me. You know, he'll try to prove you wrong and You know crazy thing about is People always say, oh, well, don't you wish you and Kobe could have worked out? We did work out We went three out of four. Yeah, I don't understand like I don't understand your question It'd be a better story if we play together for eight years and have no championships Would you like that story better? No, I don't think so. It would be a better story. But The keyword is respect like me and you could have a Respectful disagreement. I'm not gonna beat you up. Like I was never gonna beat him up and like Do this do that. No, you do it. And we have a conversation and then you just move on Do you regret at all hazing Yao Ming so hard and stuff like that? I wasn't hazing them You know, I kind of got in trouble for doing something one time, but I wasn't making fun of him as a young sir That's what we saw. Sure. We saw Right, that's so the man in Chinese. Yeah, I was just trying to just trying to be cute and cool and and somebody took it and You're racist now. Yeah, I'm like, what do you talk like? But yeah There's not a racist boom in my body. He didn't seem to mind everybody else cared except for you know what? where I'm from Every Saturday we watch Chinese dinner and that's it. We're making fun. It's actually showing respect You want to fuck like the kung fu movies? That's why that's why I came up with the name Shaq Fu I used to be in the house practicing that stuff and like I would get a white towel Act like I had a white beard. I love Chinese people. So You know, sometimes you have to be careful uh And you know, I understand like, you know, some people very very sensitive and you just have to be careful With how you word things sometimes You'd mentioned that you're the you could not get in Hakim's head. Why do you think that is? Why could you not I think I showed him too much respect We had the same agent at one time and he was just a nice guy I didn't want to and I didn't want to hurt my friend Gotcha And he kind of set me up because during the regular season I was having my way with him So when we got to the finals that year in Orlando, I was real arrogant We had 10 days off. We was doing things all wrong. We were Flying to Atlanta partying and flying it like it was it was out of control We had a mini parade and because we thought he was going to win because I thought I was going to win And then he just then he just turned that switch on me and I couldn't couldn't get him to turn off So it seems like he didn't have any Hakim Fu or anything. You were just nicer to him He was just nice to him like Usually a guy like that. I would I would first play the game try to commit an offensive foul That was my thing like I take three steps to the middle and swing the elbow around if your face is there you get hit Three things will happen. You make the score And we either miss or the ref can call offensive foul every time. So the first play of the game I'm letting you know that I'm coming with nothing but force. So if your face is in the way, it's not my problem So but I didn't do that with him with him I was real finesse and trying to be cool and cute and and costing but also taught me valuable lesson that uh I said to myself if I ever make it back to the finals again I'm gonna throw a dominant performance so dominant It'll guarantee you when I think that's why I got three finals in the piece because I didn't want to have that feeling of letting everybody down the panel the family the kids the city Because when you win you get the praise but when you lose get the finger and I understand that and I respect that and accept that How do you turn up the heat and get more physically aggressive on the court or more aggressive in the game without getting Angry or losing your losing your shit a little bit NBA stands for nothing but actress in real life. I'm a nice guy Yeah, I'm I'm terminated body with a Bambi heart That's what I am. So on the court This is my persona. I'm a shack not only that I'm trying to win 17,000 fans in here relying on me. I got kids relying on me. I got means the fans relying on me I got kids that want to be like me I'm gonna do the same thing for them that dr. J did for me Dr. J changed my life. Dr. J was the guy that said, okay Now I know what I want to be when I grow up. I had some good grades and my father took me to a game We're way up in Madison Square Garden probably the top row Born game Dr. J goes baseline throw it down the whole arena stands It actually scared me because I thought something was happening and I look at my dad's like I know what I want to be when I grow up dad. I want to be down there He's like, well, that's what you got to do son. And So I want to be I want to be that that person to a kid That's you know trying to do something with his life now So you and your dad outlined a plan to get all the way to the NBA? Yes, we did. How did that look back then? I mean, it seems like a lot of people do that now But there's too many there's too much white space where you kind of don't really know what goes in between You taught me how to play the right way Told me how to work hard Told me to expect not being as good as I wanted to be when early, but that's okay to keep working Told me to take criticism and use it as motivation And told me to compete at a high level like I've won on every level except college The little league au Olympics junior Olympics Won on every level except college. So as a youngster When I used to play and win he would let me celebrate the trophy one day I come home after school and be gone and he was the type you never asked him where's the trophy at So I finally asked him when I got older and he said I did it because I never want you to be satisfied I want you to always want more as a player. So even as a youngster when I was a player and I wasn't that good That wasn't stopping me because I knew that because of my work. I think I was going to be somebody and with him being a drill sergeant I would have to get up at 5 30 with him and his troops and his troops to go through the course first And I'll be right behind him. He was literally a drill sergeant. Yes And he made you get up early with all the troops and go work out I had to fold the bed and he dropped a quarter on it and Pillows had to be creased all that stuff if not he messed up and I'd have to do it again He'd be like you only got five minutes if you don't get it done in five minutes You're going to be on that track double time move it move it. Yeah, best thing happened to me Your dad was pretty good at balancing being a nurturing caring father with being Real hard ass from the sound of it. No, it was hard ass 70% of the time Yeah, yeah, uh military life family Marriage he was really hard ass, but he taught me Don't listen to how I say it listen to what I say Because we your drill sergeant you got to be like this all the time So he was like that all the time, but he could be really nice like he'd be like, what's up? Harry, how you do like he'd be yelling, but he'd be talking so that was just who he was and uh Again, you know, he told me he said don't listen to how I say it's listen to what I said And so like even with him yelling all the time. It wasn't a real yell. It was just just how he was What balance do you take with your own kids between being tough on them and being nurturing when when appropriate? I I'm one of the luckiest guys and where I have six awesome children. They know and understand I have I have face discipline with them Like all all I had to do is make a face and I know And the face sometimes get me in trouble with the girls because they'll just start shedding tears immediately. So I have to limit I have to loosen up the face muscles with the girl, but the guys I just Like I really say it again. I did like but I've never had to spank him or never do anything. So That's uh good for me Yeah, so you could you they know what might be coming just from the look and that's enough usually Yeah, they know I think most parents probably have that if you don't have face discipline Yeah, you gotta you got problems. Yeah, all I gotta do is just look at How do you separate the game and fame from your personal life and not let one interfere with the other because you're really good at that It is what it is What you see is what you get A lot of people like to use the word role model to me is you're playing a role Right I'm a real model what you see is what you get You know, I don't want to be one of those guys that acts a certain way When the camera's around when the marketing team is around And then get behind closed doors and do that because that's how One day you get caught and people realize that you're a fraud and it'll be all over. It's happened. So I try to Keep it real, but in a respectful manner With me what you see is what you get. I'm a funny guy in real life I talk to people in real life. I love kids in real life. I love rims and you know, I love hanging out This is what I do. I'm also Very professional. I'm also educated I speak the language and I think that's why I'm running for sheriff I think I'll do a good job because I speak all types of languages I can go on the corner and what up bro. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom I could throw in a three-piece suit and have a conversation with Warren Buffett and boom I can go I speak all those languages, but I just try to I just try to be myself like I don't Like I can't I can't put on a facade just for this Yeah, because that will catch up with you eventually I think a lot of people in your position do put on that facade. Otherwise, we wouldn't be having this conversation What do you think is the difference between the confidence to just keep it real? Just be yourself all the time and the cockiness that a lot of these other guys exhibit all the time I can't speak for anybody else but You know, I'm in a position in my life. It's all about having fun Like I hate seeing people talk about how much money they got Who cares, you know, you know what I love I live in I live in the neighborhood and look listen to me closer now I live in the neighborhood in Orlando. My house is 70 down square feet. I'm not bragging 70,000 square feet It's not the best house in the neighborhood. It's a guy that has one for 90 And guess what? I don't know who he is or what he does. I've been I've been trying for years to They're just like, who is this guy? It's another house down to 50,000. It's 140 Like it's one that has a yacht in the back like Those are people I really respect because they just do their work and they just come home But they're not they're not on instagram look. I'm leaving they to check. I got a yacht like I hate people like that I would never do that. I mean like I Every now and I say, okay, I got this just to know that but I I don't like people like that. Yeah, you talk more about icy hot than your car collection. Exactly You actually I looked at your car collection online and I noticed you have a smart car And I got I got a long time ago. Okay, because I was thinking I bought it as a bet What was the bet? I bet you can't fit in this smart car or I bet you can't get out I bet me 30,000 to my favorite charity that I couldn't fit in a smart car So I bought the car Got in the car and then I gave the car to his daughter Really? So you didn't seat mod the car No So you can really you really pulled that seat all the way back and just sat in that smart car Yeah, my knees were touching just the steering wheel a little bit But I fit not like, you know, even with the Buick people Oh, you adjust the seat the people that Buick wouldn't allow us to adjust the seat So I actually really fit I uh, I got tired of being asked do I fit in the Buick so much? I went out and bought a Buick and one time I was speeding on the highway. I apologize all the police officers And a cop stopped me and he comes into the window like some registration And he sees me and you should see the joy in his face and he says, oh, shit. You really do fit in the Buick Go be careful. That was that was a great story. That's that is funny Yeah, because you I would imagine like the Ferraris you got to mod the seats all these little cars you got to mod the seats But what are the things you have to have custom made shoes beds car seats occasionally? I'm a lot of people ask me to ask you that it's close But like I'm a I'm a t-shirt jeans toms type of guy. I still got my shack shoes that I wear every day, but Just uh, I'm just a normal basic guy these days. So I will I will buy him bulk because I don't like shopping. So like these jeans I have only that I guarantee I got 40 pairs of of each color They're just in my house. So I don't want to be able to like three years from now. Go go buy jeans I want to have like 200 300 pair of jeans And each house Wow So you just and do you buy the clothes yourself or you have somebody who's like, hey get him? He likes these get a hundred more regular guy. I do stuff myself. I go to Walmart by myself I go to CVS by myself. I go to Waffle House. I go to Krispy Kreme all by myself. You do you own a Krispy Kreme? I feel like yes. Yeah. Yeah in Atlanta and you every spot in Atlanta You own a lot of different franchise businesses and things like that. How do you decide what to invest in? I mean, who do you even trust to advise you in that kind of thing? Well, first I trust my panel, of course, and then myself like for example, if I don't like this water And you being the CEO of this company, it's no amount of money you can offer me to drink this And and then I'll tell my panel. Okay, if they're interested I'm sure somebody else be interested. This is what I like to drink. That's the story I tell everybody As we won a championship we these contacted us But as a youngster, I've seen the great weeds commercials, but we couldn't afford weedies for us It was fraught to flakes fruit loops dig them snacks. So we these contacted us and said hey, won't you be on the cover? And I told my agent I can't do it. Say, what do you mean you can't do a breakfast champion? I said I never ate weedies and I'm not going to try it right now Like my like if I'm eating cereal It's going to be fraught to flakes one fruity pebbles and then dig them snacks So second championship we these come back again. I'm like Can't do it, bro. Third championship I can't do it and in the fourth championship I think they just deal with the nba and d way that myself was on it And then finally my dream came true about three years ago Perry came to me said I got some good news. Got some bad news. So, okay. What's the bad news except Frost the flakes still not interested because I because I because I actually told him I said call Fraught to Flakes and tell him I'll be on the cover with Tony for free. They didn't even got to pay me They didn't buy it. So he said frost to flakes not in and They're not interested But fruity pebbles this and he said they want to put you on 13 million boxes And I said, let me think about it. Hell. Yeah I was going to cover 13 million boxes of fruity pebble, which which was awesome because growing up that's what I hate And in college, I really use icy hot and it really worked and I was like this stuff So when they approached it, I was like, you know what I know about this product firsthand Let's do it. So You know, I I have to be comfortable with the product And then like if I'm not comfortable with the product has to be something new and and innovate like I'm really into technology So like we meet with a lot of a lot of people that try to show off stuff and I'm a geek a geek a geek save save my high school career Really? I had a 69.2 in government class And it was like a d-minus or something like that and it was it was a round playoff time and you know teacher I wasn't a wasn't a bad student. I just wasn't getting it and the teacher's like, you know, I'm gonna give you I'm gonna give you a chance to retake this test Because we were like 33 at all at the time. It's like she's like, I'm not gonna pass you just because you're athlete But you work hard. I respect your work, you know I'm gonna give you an opportunity to retake this test You got a study with mcdougal mcdougal was a Sure that everybody used to bully and I used to just stick up for like they'd be messing with him because he was He was a smart kid. He had the computer back in the day where you had to press space bar ESC and delete near the big You know, he had that computer back in the day Like and everybody everybody used to mess with him and I was the only one be like, oh man Leave him alone. Just leave him alone. So he was my tutor and he was the coolest guy ever and he broke it down So the way he broke it down I made a be on the test boom want to stay championship and I was like, you know what? I respect geeks and how they think I want to be a geek and I've been a geek ever since and I'm proud to say that and if you see me in the streets You can call me big geek and it won't hurt my feelings. Nice. You ever keep in touch with mcdougal? No I wish I I wish I you know crazy thing is I don't really really know his name people just just call him mcdougal Oh, so he could that could be anybody. Yeah, I actually I actually I actually have to look at my yearbook and see his name But he was a nice kid and my school was 9 through 12 269 kids 9 through 12 and my senior class is 39 students. I was a small so everybody nervous So like if you were an athlete and you was picking on this guy, I didn't really play that. I'm like, oh man Leave him alone. Just like people be messing with him. He's because he's just kept to himself I didn't say anything and but this dude had a 4.9 He was one of the smartest guys in school like I could see people like when they when they're taking tests I can see people looking up. What does mcdougal say? Yeah, see see So I always used to just stick up for him because I don't like people just messing with people for no reason Well, you so you were always like that. You always had a good sense of humor always. No, no I was a bully at first really. Yeah, and I'll just did this happen in hindsville, Georgia I want to say fifth grade so Previous before I got to school my father said if you get to spend it one more time You already know what's going on when you get home drill sergeant. Yeah the paddle So I'm in class and I have a water bottle. I don't even know what I got for and I got some tissue And I'm making this gigantic spit. Why and I'm just lubing it up Boom when it's the wettest thing. Oh, man, and I throw it on the chalkboard and Splat the kid everybody the kid's going crazy teacher turns around I'm silent so And at this point all the students know don't mess the shack because he will do something to you Take your lunch or whatever whatever. So I'm sitting there and the teacher goes, who did that? And the guy wraps me up go through the thing spend the five days So now I get to go back to class and with the little slippers. I got suspended. I'm just sitting like man, man, man And finally around 2 50 We get out three o'clock. I let the kids I I'm getting you today If I'm gonna get asked what you are too So I wait about an hour and I see him sneaking behind I get them And I just start touching him up and he starts having an epileptic seizure. Oh, man. Yeah, and some guy innocent bystander came put a pencil in his mouth So the cops came to the house and they knew my father And the guy's family didn't want to press charge But what my father did he allowed the MPs to take me to jail He said this is what happened to you to kill this kid. Yeah, and they put me through the whole process charging me Hand cuffing me put me in a cell. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. It was sort of like it was sort of like a uncut Gone straight like you're scared straight. Yeah, like but it was uncut because it's like a military prison These guys in there they were tough And after that day, I was like, you know, I'm not gonna do that anymore I'm done with that. I mean because it would have been a whole different It would have been if that kid would have passed away, but a whole different story You didn't know that that was gonna happen. No, that was just you know, I was just trying to I was just trying to Show off for no reason. Where do you think you'd be today if you didn't become a basketball player? Be a cop. Yeah, so you count full circle now. Yeah. Yeah, and you know, I Remember asking my father that he said he would be a somebody Doesn't matter like, you know, I don't I don't brag to the fact that I did this and I did that because we're all human beings All put on this earth We all put it all males and females put their clothes on the same way All the same people some people just have different circumstances. So I try not to flash my circumstances with people's face Unfortunately as they know all my circumstances anyway, so yeah, I don't have to put it in their face Is it is it strange to you not being able to have Like a private life that people will just leave you the hell alone if you wanted it I mean, I don't I don't look at it like that I mean if I if I want to be unseen, I know how to get away Like my go-to place to get away is Turks and Caicos in the Bahama Rim me a little boat and just look at the blue water and just relax If I don't if I'm having a bad day, I'll stay in the house Let's y'all don't want to go out and get out my face like, you know, I want that story to be out. So I know how to navigate my way through So you manage your emotions really well. It seems like You're self-aware enough to know I'm 80 20. I'm 80 percent a humorous 20 serious And I don't really have to get serious a lot. You know, it's good that You know three people on my panel handle 90 percent of my business affairs Which is a good thing to have. Yeah, they are the left side of my brain So then I let them do all the intelligent thinking and we have conversations and then I'll help them make a decision at the end Which is good because I think if I had to do all this stuff by myself probably go crazy. So Nice to have nice have teammates around you to help you win championships Were you always the biggest kid? Yes in your class growing up? Yes, the biggest kid and After I became a bully. I was like, how can I get these people to like me and respect me? Bam, I'm gonna be silly I'm a funny guy. I watch Good Time, Sam and the Sun, Brady Bunch, Tom and Jerry I like to laugh. I like to make people laugh. I like to dance. This is what I'm going to do to get people to like me And it worked So I'm curious the social impact of people always looking up at you and commenting on your height and asking Hey, do you play basketball because you weren't really a basket? You weren't good at basketball when you were young because you were too big, right? When you were really young I was just that wasn't I was too big. I was uncoordinated. Yeah, that's what I meant Yeah, I didn't have the belief and once I saw dr. Jay. It's all about believing Like a thought can just just turn up your whole Your whole internal structure that was crazy like because I thought I was a terrible player So I actually was a terrible player and then once I I could do that like it just it felt you know felt like a movie like I Like as soon as I said I could do that. It felt like a year just entered my body And I just took off from there So you just you just kind of I just thought about it thought about it and let it reach it reprogram your reprogram yourself because for so long You know with being being six three six four not being able to play and people whispering He's gonna be terrible like you hear that stuff. You see it. You start to believe it. I'm like Maybe I am terrible. You know what? Let me let me go to this local rotc program and look at these pamphlets and See what the military life is really about 18 to get in boom bam, bam, bam I'm I might I might be in a in the military and I just changed my thought process and then What age did that happen 15 15? Wow. So you were pretty young still at that point I saw dr. J 14 and then 15. I was like Now it's time to go do something about it. Is your mom coming out for the statue unveiling. Yes. Yeah Yeah, you still turn to her for advice from the sound of it and she's on the panel I mean she even had you sort of she's the She's the head of the panel the head of the panel. She gets upset with me sometimes like doing this to The uh, what's your calm beef? I'm not gonna say his name. I don't want to get sent. I was about to bring that up But I won't do it. No, you can bring it up. I'm not gonna say his name. Okay, but Got out of hand and when she called she said squash it got a squash it President of the panel mama. She's just said leave it alone and I was having fun with it, but You know mama said hey leave it alone. I gotta leave it alone. You don't question your mama Yeah, the question is mother. No, the true man Why didn't she get involved in that? Is it because because javill I ain't gonna do that. My mother is a thousand percent corporate And she became that way well, she's always been that way, but she tells the story that She had me at a young age. She sacrificed a lot But because she invested her time in me It's paying back her ROI is it it hit it's like google Yeah, the IPO has hit it's hit so It enabled her to go back to school and get her bachelor's her master's and her doctor So my mother is a sharp corporate business woman and she knows it's just bad for business Like me with my whole man ego thing. You say you want to fight we're gonna fight. That's just how I am And she's like son like, you know, she'll break it up He got babies looking up to you boom boom and then it was me to stop and like she's right Shut it down boom boom, but again when you're a man and you're competitive and you're you know, people challenge you like Like if you challenge me now, I'm gonna just get like this and like I'm gonna be in challenge mode So but you know, she called me and just had to let it go Yeah, it seems like that's One of the most powerful things around you is having other brains doing the thinking as self aware as you are As as willing and able as you are to manage your own emotions having five other brains. They go well hang on Let's take a breath here is has been your saving grace for a long time General Dwight Eisenhower said the greatest leaders are the ones smart enough to hire people smarter than you around you Best quote ever in my life If someone's listening to this right now and they think I should do a panel I should get my own panel. Where do you recommend they start looking for that family? And Friends and people that you trust How do you know who you can trust if you already have a measure of success, right? Because those people then could have in it not your family necessarily But a lot of people around you will have an agenda by that point good point and you just have to I don't have a blueprint for just like a gut feeling. They One thing about Perry in my relationship is Perry wasn't didn't come looking for me. I found him Uncle Mike and Uncle Jerome have been there since I've been a youngster when I Get caught stealing gum And the people call the cops the cops say hey uncle Jerome uncle shadow. We got your nephew again. We'll go get him They come down instead of you know hit me with the book They would explain you know man. You can't do this boom boom boom and my mother You know, you gotta love my mother and coach Brown's got it That they offer me a scholarship when I was the worst player on the army base He came in and said hey, I want to offer you a scholarship anyway because you know You're saying you're not a good player and I know this army life your dad probably can't afford college You can come to lsu anyway. So that's why Uh decided to go to lsu, but that's why he's on the panel. So it's just like a just like a gut feeling One you can't have yes people Like they just got to tell you, you know somebody respect They just got to tell you like it is and the good thing for me is I don't know everything If I don't know I'll ask a question and I can figure it out, but you know You have to be able to have someone that you love and respect be honest with you by keeping it real Like when you do something wrong and they say you shouldn't have did that you got to fix it Like I'm not the guy No, you shouldn't have did that you shouldn't have said that boom bang bang I'll talk to you later. And then you know, I listen about listen to what think about and then we move on Respect is the key word like Kobe. We had our ups and downs, but we always respect each other Want to know you want want to know how I know we respect each other in game seven who the Kobe thought allowed to Yeah, that's you. Okay. And uh after the championship indiana who did Kobe run and jumping to his arms I must have been you must have been me. So, you know after After gaming indiana when Kobe sprayed his ankle and couldn't walk who who said jump on my back and I walk you to the bus Yeah, that was you exactly. So it's all the respect is there Forget the little tits and the tags you can have that up brothers have that Yeah, sisters have that Marry people have that but as long as you got the respect there, it'll work And that's what it's all about. Especially when deciding your panel When you got your check when you first signed it's you spent your first paycheck I think and was it 45 minutes or part of your first paycheck anyway And it wasn't my first paycheck was my first big check From classic cards and did a card signing deal for camman. It was a million dollars And you know when you're a young kid and you have no no Business etiquette or you don't know anything about business A million is a million. But you know every every man that works and every man that has to pay a mortgage, you know that FICA yeah sales tax states tax, you know Inc all like all those people gonna get their money first before you see that so My check was about 750 and I didn't even know like I got my guy said, hey you signed for a million and then I didn't even factor in his 15% which is 150 and then boom and bam so By the time I bought three cards I bought a card and my father said I want one. I was like and in my mind. I was like, okay 150 minus a million. Oh, I got a 50 left cool By another one and then my mom said, uh, hey, I want one Okay A 50 my okay boom 700. Yeah, let's do it. Boom And then I got a call from the bank guy next day. He said you're 30 000 holes. I bought rims and suits and baggy pants and vasachi shirts and Chains and it was wow That's when my father came and very I said see see who's going you need to get a business manager? And then that's when I started looking for people The lesson to take away from that is one get a business manager and two Don't go to the car dealership with your parents. No Of course, no, they just have to be smart like I wish I'd uh, I wish I would have knew about uh Leaston back then I probably would have just leased a thing. Yeah, yeah rather than just been I could have just put like 5000 down and paid, you know 700 a month for for three years rather than just give Rather guy check for 153 times expensive lessons man expensive lessons check Yeah, what did you do before you had dough though? I mean in college you must have had to sleep sideways on beds or stacked beds together I mean, what was that I tried to get all the free stuff and when I mean free stuff from LSU I could so I had about 2030 basketball rebuy sweatsuits That's all I wore just track suits track suits and LSU football shirt or your t-shirt and then I got a pale grand so the pale grand I got like $15 on the dollar So, oh, yeah, so I go to the bank and I put 300 hundred dollar bills three 300 Three $100 bills and the rest in ones. I like walk on campus like I had a big amount of money Just just to feel like all right, I still got something in my pocket, huh? Nice. Nice feel rich I guess that makes sense. I guess that makes sense to make sure you got something to show for it Why the rap career being in movies, you know, it's I mean you went platinum So not bad, but what was the value out there was the point? It wasn't about doing those things about following my dream I'm in the studio with notorious bi g. Yeah, how many people can say that not not many I'm in the studio with jz Nas peter guns lord to rick Eric sermon wu-tang clan rent like Those are guys that I grew up listening to tribe called quest. I'm That's making it forget hot sounds and boom and bam and sell albums Because like like I told the rapper this one this one time rap money is nothing to me It's nothing Like you can sell a mean album two mean albums. You ain't getting a lot of that back You know, you got to recoup and like a lot of people don't understand that, you know, so For me it was just fun and then the movie thing is It's all about opportunity. I I got blue chips from sitting in jerry's deli The guy that wrote a white man can jump was coming up with a script blue chips and he saw me and he's like Hey, you shackle new right? Boom. Boom. Boom. I'm doing a movie. Would you like to be in it? What you think I'm gonna say? No, no, I gotta concentrate on my basketball. Forget that I'm gonna do it. That's my And it was and I had to play me. It was one of my better movies and then You know out here meeting people and shaking hands like we could offer stuff all the time that we have to turn Now but yeah, it's all about opportunity. That's and so you seize on those opportunities as soon as you smell a good one There's no hesitation Yeah, and then you know, it's all about having fun. It's not like we're out there like, you know Like, you know, like hey, we want you to do this. That seems cool. Let's do it I think the the rap money doesn't mean anything to me is something that only a professional basketball player can say I was making 20 30 million a year from basketball Yeah Another 10 15 from Pepsi and Reebok and you know another from the shack like we were Like I could have sold two three million albums and got three million back. That's nothing Yeah, that's in a way. That's the most hip hop thing you could possibly say, right? Like, you know, this ain't enough money for me like when you're talking about shack money, but You know to be able to tell your kids or to have people know that You were friends with notorious b.i.g. You did a song with jz. That's That's classic. Yeah, you got the legendary status because because again, and you know the thing is If those people didn't Didn't like what I was doing. They probably would have said no, sure But they knew that they knew that we you know, we all because we all come from the same place We are from the inner city. So I'm on the way to the to the court I got my cane going on. I got my fake rope chain on. I'm a little project As soon as I get there I open my bag and put up my chuck tailors and I'm dr. Jack. So You know, so like when I call all these people up who a lot of them didn't charge me by the way So yeah, man, we would love to do it and they saw my passion and they saw that I really respected the craft That was okay Is there anything else on your bucket list that you haven't ticked off yet any plans to do anything? We actually talked about today. I have a dangerous bucket list that if it don't go right You could probably never hear from me again No, and I'm and I'm only let let let the world know about two of those things. I would like to skydive No, I would like to have I would build a contraption That could survive Niagara Falls I would what does the panel think about that one? They don't like it But I want to do that man Because I'm I like to have fun. I think of weak design in a certain way Especially to where if I bounce around nothing, I hurt sure and and has to be strong enough to withstand In case you hit a rock or something But I would like to do that and then put cameras in and let people tune in and see if I make it or not Could stream it live, man. I could either way. It'll be a good show. That's for sure And I want to climb the Himalayans. I hear that's tough. Oh, yeah Yeah, that's very very tough. So I want to do that when I would bear grills and that was tough So I have a lot of things doing my bucket list. No MMA anymore. Huh nah, nah If because I I know that you and Charles Barkley were both kind of into that at one point if I fought the MMA MMA would it would only be one guy would fight Who'd you fight? His name is hungman joy. He's a seven foot four guy from South Korea, I think Wow, yeah, seven for four. I never fought a guy never fought never fought anybody in my size I would I would like to see how I would fair out. Yeah against that. You could call yow too. He might do it Yeah, I don't want these problems All right, right on So I love that and you're not going to wrestle the big show Uh, probably not. Nah, it doesn't seem like a good use of uh, uh, your sput you lower back. Yeah either Yeah, I gotta ask or people are going to get mad as we wrap up here What's what's going on with the flat earth thing? Are you just messing with everybody with that? Would you like to hear my theory? Yeah, tell me about it The first part of the theory is is i'm joking you idiots. That's the first part of the theory Second part is I said jokingly that when i'm in my bus And I drive from florida to california, which I do every summer It seems to be flat When i'm in my plane and we're getting ready to land and I open up the window and i'm looking at all the land That we flow it seems to be flat But this world we live in people take things too seriously But i'm i'm i'm i'm gonna give the people Answers to my tests Knowing that i'm a funny guy If something seems controversial or boom boom boom you got to add my funny points on right So now once you add my funny points on that should Eradicate and get rid of all your negative thoughts, right? That's what you should do when you hear it should kill on the old statement Okay, you should know that he has funny points right over here And what did he say the guy had boom boom boom boom at the funny points you either laugh or you don't laugh but Don't take me seriously because when I want you to take me seriously you will know by the tone of my voice That i'm being serious, so We live in a world today and densel washington said the best there's too much information right now It's too much going on so Like if you know somebody says something and you know, they tirelet and they send that out by the time it gets to To another guy another guy is all myself. So people actually really believe that I was serious when I said that We we actually had no we actually had people calling the office a long time to check really no, I don't think that was a joke Okay, so know that once you kill them they'll say something 80 of the time because 80 of the time i'm being humorous It is a joke and 20 of the time i'm being seriously But when i'm being seriously, you'll know you don't want to see me seriously See me and charles barkley going back and forth on t&t. That's when i'm mad when i'm serious other than that You you're not gonna get that with me. So I was just joking people the earth is not around this flat I mean the earth is not flat. It's round Shaq, thank you so much. Thank you buddy. Appreciate it. This has been awesome. All right. Thank you