Shaquille O’Neal pointed to his own “dumbass mistakes” when offering retirement advice to the Eagles’ Jason Kelce.
During a recent episode of The Big Podcast, Shaq got reflective when discussing the possibility of retirement with Kelce, who told fans he “ain’t fucking done yet” when signing a one-year deal with the Eagles in 2023.
“My advice to you is if you are going to retire, accept it,” Shaq, a “big fan” of the NFL center, said around 47 minutes into the video below. “Enjoy your family, brother. I made a lot of dumbass mistakes to where I lost my family and I didn’t have anybody. That’s not the case for you so enjoy your beautiful wife, enjoy your beautiful kids, and never dwell on what we had. What we had is what we got. You got the ring, people know who you are. Enjoy it. Because, again, I was an idiot. And I’ve talked about this a long time. Lost my whole family. I’m in a 100,000-square-foot house by myself.”
YouTube: The Big Podcast with Shaq
As Shaq himself noted, he's publicly discussed these regrets in the past. In his 2011 book Shaq Uncut: My Story, for example, the former Lakers star opened up about infidelities during his marriage to Shaunie Nelson. Per Shaq, he also wasn't “the best partner” in other ways too
“You know as well as I do relationships are about maintaining… It wasn't the big stuff, it was the small stuff, and that's my fault,” he wrote at the time. “I had things to do. I was trying to win, trying to make some money. I admit I wasn't the best partner. I just didn't know how. I'm learning now.”
Shaq and Shaunie share four children together, including Shareef. This May, Shaunie will be releasing her own book, titled Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms. As a sign they are on good terms these days, Shaq jokingly offered an “Uh oh” when sharing the book's cover to Instagram last month.
This article was originally published on Complex.com.
