Shaquille O’Neal purchased a black 2025 Land Rover worth a reported $180,000 from an auto broker in Riverside. He paid even more to have it customized for his 7-foot-1 frame.
It was meant to be delivered to Baton Rouge, La., earlier this month but never arrived at its intended destination.
Instead, Shaq’s latest automobile purchase appears to be the “high-value vehicle” that is being investigated as stolen by the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia and thought to be somewhere in Atlanta as of Monday morning.
In a news release last week, the Sheriff’s Office indicated that the vehicle had been “originally ordered through a California-based auto brokerage on behalf of a high-profile client.”
The New York Post was first to report that the client was O’Neal and the company was Riverside’s Effortless Motors. Ahmad Abdelrahman, owner of Effortless Motors, confirmed both facts to The Times during a phone interview.
Abdelrahman said his company had provided O’Neal with numerous customized vehicles over the last two years. He referred to the NBA and Louisiana State legend as “an amazing human being” and said that Effortless Motors was offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the vehicle.
“The last guy you want to steal a car from is Shaquille O’Neal, you know?” Abdelrahman said. “I’ve never had this happen to us before. We do all his vehicles. We’ve transported deals for him hundreds of times, and something like this is definitely insane.”
In a statement emailed to The Times on Monday, the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office said that its criminal investigations division “is actively investigating the theft of a high-value vehicle that was fraudulently removed from a business in the Dahlonega area earlier this month. Investigators have confirmed that the vehicle was transported from a local fabrication business under false pretenses and is believed to have been taken to the Atlanta metropolitan area.”
The department added that multiple search warrants had been obtained and executed as part of the investigation and several people of interest had been identified.
Abdelrahman told The Times that O’Neal’s Land Rover was customized locally by Effortless Motors but was supposed to have additional fabrication work done in Georgia before completing its trip to Louisiana.
After learning that the vehicle never arrived in Baton Rouge, Abdelrahman said, he contacted the company he had hired to ship the vehicle, FirstLine Trucking LLC, and was told that “their system was hacked.”
“They never got our order,” Abdelrahman said he was told, “and the hackers intercepted the vehicle and picked it up, and they vanished with the car.”
FirstLine Trucking did not immediately respond to messages from The Times. O’Neal has not publicly commented on the matter.
Shaquille O’Neal was never suspended for drug use of any kind during his decorated 19-year NBA career. The rugged 7-foot-1, 325-pound Hall of Fame center freely acknowledged playing through pain and openly worried about damage to his kidneys and liver from his prolonged use of legal anti-inflammatory medications.
He also recently recounted on “Inside the NBA” a bizarre story about testing positive for cocaine ahead of the 1996 Olympics. The result was thrown out — and never publicized — because O’Neal told officials he’d eaten a poppy seed muffin shortly before the test.
Never mind that while poppy seeds can trigger a false positive test for opioids such as morphine or codeine, they can’t do the same for cocaine, which is identified in drug tests by the presence of its major metabolite, benzoylecgonine.
So in his recounting of an episode from nearly 30 years ago, O’Neal was wrong either about the illegal substance for which he tested positive or about what he ingested that caused the false positive. Perhaps he just meant to say codeine rather than cocaine.
Point being, recollections can be fuzzy, and O’Neal isn’t immune to such fuzziness, something to keep in mind when listening to the four-time NBA champion ‘fess up to his use of painkillers on this week’s “Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard” podcast.
O’Neal toggled between referring to opioid painkillers such as oxycodone and powerful, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories such as Indocin. He said he used opioids when recovering from injuries and took NSAIDs throughout his career.
But he also said his doctor told him he was addicted to painkillers, leading to “a heated discussion.” O’Neal didn’t feel high, he said, even when he would take more than the prescribed dose. “I would do homeboy math,” he said. “If it said take one, I’m taking three.”
“It was a club sandwich, fries and two pills for 19 years.”
O’Neal first discussed painkillers during his four-part HBO documentary “Shaq,” which premiered in 2022, and on the podcast Shepard mostly asked him to expand on what he’d said then about the potential damage to internal organs, the warnings from doctors and his current regrets.
In the documentary, O’Neal had this to say: “Sometimes I couldn’t play if I didn’t take it. All it did was mask the pain…. Had a lot of painkillers. I got limited kidney stuff now going on. I don’t have the full range, but I took so many painkillers that [doctors are] saying, ‘Hey, man, we don’t need you taking that stuff now. You got to be careful.’
“My kidneys are kind of just chilling out right now,” he continued. “I don’t want to flare ‘em back up.”
Both opioids and NSAIDs can cause kidney and liver damage, and O’Neal didn’t specify on the podcast which substances caused him the most concern. He said he struggled with accepting that he might have an addiction, eventually concluding, “I had to have them. So, is that addiction?”
And he hid the use of painkillers from his wife and kids, although he said “the trainers knew.”
As far back as 2000 — a year when O’Neal was the NBA‘s most valuable player and led the Lakers to the first of three consecutive championships — he expressed concern about the dangers of anti-inflammatories.
O’Neal suspected that the kidney disease that threatened the life of fellow NBA star Alonzo Mourning might be the result of anti-inflammatories and said he would stop taking them.
Two years later, however, O’Neal had resumed NSAID use. After a stomach ailment he originally believed was an ulcer, diagnostic tests were done on his kidneys and liver.
O’Neal was playing with a badly aching arthritic big toe, a sprained wrist and a handful of unlisted bangs and bruises. He needed the pills, although it was unclear whether he was referring to painkillers, anti-inflammatories or both.
“I tried to stay off of them, but if I don’t take them I can’t move or play,” he said in 2002. “I was taking them. When my stomach was giving me problems I had to get the test.”
O’Neal has long championed non-prescription means of addressing pain. He’s been the spokesperson for the topical analgesic Icy Hot since 2003 and he spoke on Capitol Hill in 2016, plugging efforts to give police better tools to recognize when drivers are under the influence of drugs. He pledged two years of funding for officers to become drug recognition experts.
O’Neal’s comments on Shepard’s podcast are a clear indication that his use of painkillers and NSAIDs continues to weigh heavily on his mind. He added that these days he relaxes with a different vice: a hookah.
“I’ve never been into weed,” he said. “Hookah, it enables me to follow the routine of sit your ass down.”
Shaquille O’Neal was a dominant force in the NBA, a 7-foot-1 gentle giant who shattered boards, racked up four titles and left an indelible mark as one of the best centers in basketball history. But since his retirement in 2011, Shaq has shown that his impact goes far beyond sports.
Now, in the business world, from offices and boardrooms, Shaq is focused on remaining the most dominant ever.
Beyond his impressive height, one of O’Neal’s most distinguishing traits is his sense of humor. In the “Power Moves with Shaquille O’Neal” Netflix series, which premiered on June 4, he acknowledges that his mindset is “80% humor and 20% seriousness” when it comes to running his businesses. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t take his responsibilities seriously. In fact, he believes that some people tried to exploit his outgoing nature when he first started his business ventures.
“Yes, a lot of people try to take advantage and that just drives me to do more things,” O’Neal told L.A. Times en Español.
Shaquille O’Neal walks on the court before Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder in Oklahoma City.
(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)
He is accustomed to people trying to exploit his perceived weaknesses.
“They always said, ‘With the way he shoots free throws, he’ll never win a championship.’ OK, maybe that’s true, but I’m going to dominate the game so much that free throws don’t even matter.”
He brings the same mentality to his position at Reebok, where he is president of basketball — a position he assumed in 2023 — and is leading a push to bring relevance back to a brand that once bet on him to be a star.
“When I went to Nike, they said, ‘Yeah, we wanted to give you your own sneakers, but we gave them to another guy.’ And I said, ‘Excuse me? To this guy?’ And then when I went to Reebok, they said, ‘We believe in you, we’re going to give you your own shoes,’” O’Neal recalls.
That loyalty was not forgotten. Today, 30 years after signing with Reebok as a player, O’Neal is back, not to launch retro updates of his shoes, but to make decisions, train a new generation of athletes and reshape the brand’s place in a fiercely competitive market.
Shaq didn’t join Reebok’s executive team just for nostalgia’s sake. His vision is clear: Take a chance like they took a chance on him in the 1990s.
“They took a chance on young Shaq. He took a chance on young AI [Allen Iverson]. He took a chance on young Shawn Kemp. And we turned the plan into a dominant number two. Never number one, but never number three,” O’Neal explained.
With that logic, the former player decided not to bet Reebok’s current NBA marketing budget all on one superstar.
“I wanted to go the traditional route. ‘Hey, let’s go for Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander]. Let’s go for Jaylen Brown.’ But when you talk to agents, these guys want big numbers. … You’re going to spend 85 or 90% of the budget,” O’Neal said.
His team — including his son, Shareef — convinced O’Neal to invest in emerging talent with a strong social media presence and a mindset of their own.
Case in point is WNBA Chicago Sky player Angel Reese, who signed with Reebok in 2023.
“Angel reminds me of AI. She’s going to do it her way, the way she wants to do it. She doesn’t care what anyone else says,” O’Neal said.
Shaquille O’Neal, left, and Allen Iverson watch the NBA Rookie Challenge on Feb. 18, 2005, at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
(Mark Terrill / Associated Press)
He sees Reese not only as a great athlete, but as an influential figure who embodies the disruptive spirit he wants to restore in the Reebok brand.
O’Neal isn’t just impressed by what he sees on the court. He’s looking for something more.
“I’m looking for someone who isn’t getting the recognition he deserves,” he said. “We live in a world where, once they get noticed by one or two guys, they stick with them forever.”
He said he was underestimated in his early days. Despite being selected with the first pick in the 1992 draft and making an immediate impact with the Orlando Magic, he said during early career business meetings “they never looked at me. They always looked at my manager. It was like, ‘Do you think he understands business?’”
That prompted him to study business administration and management and get serious about his financial education.
“I just thought, ‘Let me get a degree … so you know I understand that I’m in charge of my own destiny,’” O’Neal said.
Now, as president of Reebok basketball, he also values athletes’ family ties, their work ethic, their environment and their desire to represent something bigger than themselves.
“I like the people, the moms, the dads, the coaches. People want to be represented in a certain way,” O’Neal said.
He doesn’t presume to have all the answers. He admits he’s had to adapt and learn.
“It’s just about challenges. I’ve always been one to step up to meet them. … I had to learn a lot, learn about this business,” he said.
To appeal to the broadest group of customers, he has relied on a close circle of advisors that includes his son, Shareef.
“I had to bring in my son to help me identify with the crazy Generation Z, because they do what they want. They follow their own path. They have their own rules,” O’Neal said.
While still a strong, determined figure, O’Neal has learned to accept feedback from others.
“I don’t think my best quality is listening,” he admits. But in his new role, he’s had to let go of some of his old-school style and trust his team.
O’Neal was one of the most dominant players the NBA has ever seen. Now he’s one of the most successful athletes in the business world. His investment portfolio includes franchises of businesses such as Papa John’s, Five Guys, 24 Hour Fitness and his own line of products and apparel. He also holds commercial endorsement contracts with brands such as Icy Hot, The General insurance and Carnival Cruises, among others.
But his business success has not been linear.
“On the road to success, there are many failures and you simply have to try to have more successes than failures,” he said.
His secret has been to surround himself with skilled people.
“I have great teammates,” O’Neal said. “My friend wins a championship by herself. It’s called delegation.”
Shaq has turned his image into a global brand, but he insists the key has been staying true to his values. It all revolves around his family.
“I am who you think I am. I realized I couldn’t have done any of this without my family and their blessings,” he says.
He said his faith and personal values help him manage the impact of his success.
“I said it about seven years ago, never call me famous,” O’Neal said. “Celebrities are jerks. I just want to be a normal person. I’m a respectful person. I love kids. I love the elderly. I love helping those in need. I love making people smile. So the answer to the question of how I keep my feet on the ground, you know exactly how I do it: Salaam-alaikum [Peace be upon you], brother.”
Shaquille O’Neal’s fried chicken chain expanded with a Valencia location serving fried chicken sandwiches, sides and shakes.
(Big Chicken)
Long before he joined he executive team, O’Neal played a major role in Reebok’s success. In the early 1990s, while Nike and Adidas were building giant empires, Reebok bet on O’Neal and Iverson, and managed to position itself as a serious alternative, especially among urban youth. But over time, the brand lost ground.
Now, with O’Neal leading the renaissance of its basketball division, Reebok wants to regain that lost space. It doesn’t intend to compete directly with Nike or Adidas for big stars, but to create an ecosystem of its own.
“It’s not about a gamble. It’s about making the right decision,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal has been many things: NBA champion, most valuable player, All-Star, entrepreneur, commentator, DJ, actor, honorary police officer, philanthropist. But perhaps his most powerful facet is that of a man who builds bridges, pushes others and constantly reinvents himself.
This new movement, he says, is strategic and personal. He is enjoying a reunion with the brand that believed in him and an opportunity to return the favor by helping Reebok connect with customers.
June 13 (UPI) —Shaquille O’Neal, the retired basketball star and NBA analyst, has agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle claims that he misled investors by promoting the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
O’Neal, who urged fans to trust the platform in a commercial, won’t admit wrongdoing. He reportedly earned much less to make the commercial that aired in June 2022: around $750,000, Front Office Sports reported.
The settlement Monday marks one of the first high-profile settlements over FTX’s collapse, CNBC reported.
The civil case in Miami federal court. O’Neal must pay the amount within 30 days. An initial settlement was reached in November.
In the class-action suit, O’Neal is accused of presenting FTX as a trustworthy and legitimate investment tool while allegedly helping drive the adoption of unregistered securities.
Eligible are users who deposited money into FTX or held its proprietary token, FTT, between May 2019 and late 2022.
O’Neal’s $1.8 million payout will cover all legal fees, notice and administration costs, and payouts to those eligible. Also, he is released from future liability and is barred from seeking reimbursement from the FTX bankruptcy estate.
“We are pleased to have this matter behind us,” O’Neal’s attorney said in a statement.
In 2022, O’Neal told CNBC he “was just a paid spokesperson for a commercial.”
At the time he said he didn’t know much about crypto currency.
“I don’t understand it, so I will probably stay away from it until I get a full understanding of what it is,” he told CNBS. “From my experience, it is too good to be true.”
Other FTX endorsers, including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen and Steph Curry, had claims against them largely dismissed.
FTX, a company in the Bahamas, was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange three years ago but it racked up billions of dollars or losses and filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, 2022.
Founder Sam Bankman-Fried isserving a 25-year prison sentence for seven counts of fraud and conspiracy related to the FTX collapse.
O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson are moving from TNT next season when “Inside the NBA” appears on ESPN.
One may be the loneliest number, but No. 2 is what sent Shaquille O’Neal urgently mincing off the “Inside the NBA” stage last month while the cameras kept running.
O’Neal copped to the truth Thursday night during his 18th appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon,” giving what might be more detail than anyone needed about that sudden departure in April.
First, he clung to the fib, saying, “I was drinking a lot of water that day. So I know I had the No. 2 run, but it was really a No. 1. So let’s just get that out of the way.”
He explained he was drinking olive oil at the time “to be sexy,” because he’d seen on Instagram that if he drank olive oil daily for 14 days, he would clean out his system and have a flat stomach. “So I was trying that.”
A laughing Fallon held his face in his hands.
“You know what,” O’Neal said. “I just made a mistake. I lied to you on national TV. It wasn’t a No. 1 run. It was a No. 2 run. I had to go bad. Oh, I had to go so bad.”
Fallon begged him to keep telling the lie. O’Neal asked whether the host had seen him squeezing his butt cheeks as he scooted away from the “Inside the NBA” desk.
Then Fallon showed a photo of what the crew did to O’Neal the next day: It put a blue porta-potty in studio on his side of the table.
Blessedly, the conversation then moved in a different direction.
Things were a bit more serious but no less amusing back in April when O’Neal got up while a co-host was in the middle of talking and — in a big hurry — walked awkwardly in front of his fellow panelists and out the stage door. Ernie Johnson Jr., Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley weren’t sure what was going on.
“You all right, big fella?” Barkley asked with a look of concern on his face.
As the camera (cruelly) followed him, O’Neal blurted to his co-hosts to “go ahead, keep talking” while one reminded him, “Hey, we’re on TV.”
“It’s that olive oil you’ve been drinking,” Barkley said. “Hey, take some matches with you.”
As the remaining hosts broke into giggles, Kenny Smith said, “After 40, you can’t hold it no more.”
“That wasn’t something planned, was it?” Ernie Johnson Jr. wondered.
Smith also noted that O’Neal had been drinking olive oil to clean out his system, saying, “Oh, he’s cleaning out his gut all right!”
“I did not like his gait as he left!” Johnson said.
And Barkley simply couldn’t move past the idea of the smell.
“Please turn his mic off, that’s all,” Smith quipped. Then, as Smith tried to return to talking about L.A. Clippers forward Kawhai Leonard, the team in TNT’s Studio J came through with the instant replay of Shaq bailing out. Instant. Freaking. Replay.
IN SLO-MO.
The three very professional analysts immediately began very professional analysis of O’Neal’s shambolic gait.
The big man returned fairly soon after that, mumbling something about drinking too much water and about Barkley talking way too long when he really needed to cut to a break.
“Sorry about that, America,” he said.
Seriously Shaq, you have absolutely no reason to apologize. As long as you remember the matches.
