Scott

Shaq explains how he had to trick his mom in order to buy her a house when he made his first $4,000,000 “When I didn’t believe in myself, I would just throw things out, and she would believe it. And then one day, she took me to an AAU game. We rode through this neighborhood, and she stopped and looked at this house. Not the houses that we live in, but it was a nice house, because she never had a proper house that was just hers. You know, grew up with brothers and sisters, and we always had brothers, sisters, and cousins. It was in Alamo Heights, Texas. That’s where all the rich people live in San Antonio. And she was looking at it, and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to get you a house.’” “So once I put something that’s set in stone, you’re going to have to kill me to break it. And I’ve seen this lady wake up every day, cook a hell of a breakfast, iron our clothes, iron her clothes, go to work, come home, cook a hell of a dinner, wear the same pants on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, just change up the shirts, and had one outfit for company parties and all that, but never complained.” “And then one day I’m watching TV, and Jon Koncak signs for 15 for three, $5 million a year. So my father has some tickets, and we go watch this guy play, and I’m like, ‘He’s good, but I’m better.’ So I’m like, ‘If he’s making five million a year, I can make four.’ Like, I wasn’t putting myself above him. I can make four, but I said, ‘I’m going to buy this lady a house,’ and that was my whole motivation.” “It felt great because, you know, I had to trick them into buying a house because they were really good parents. They were like, ‘You know, we got all this money coming in. We know nothing about financial literacy. Buy your house first. Get yourself situated, then buy me a house.’ I was like, ‘Okay.’ But I saw this nice house, beautiful, like something I’ve never seen before, with the pool, with the marble floors. And they were on the mission to help me find my house first. I said, ‘Mom, you like this house for me?’ She’s like, ‘I love it for you.’ And I gave her the keys.” “I’ve never seen a person cry so fast. And when I gave her the keys, she was like, ‘We can’t afford this.’ I said, ‘It’s already paid for.’ And the reason why I paid for it, if everything goes wrong, if I’m one of those dumb athletes, at least my mama’s house is paid for.”