Shaquille O’Neal, 47, may be one of the most successful athletes of all time, but the former professional basketball player didn’t let that stop him from speaking his truth about the financial differences between men and women in sports. When we caught up with Shaq at the opening party of the bar and grill BEER PARK, which he co-owns, at Paris Las Vegas on July 12, he let us know that he doesn’t agree with women athletes, especially the US women’s soccer team, getting paid less than male athletes and thinks it needs to stop.
“I think it’s very unfair, I think women are as great as men are and I think they should be paid the same, sometimes even more, especially the USA soccer team because they’ve been dominant for so long and somebody needs to level the playing field,” he EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife. The US women’s soccer team, which includes captains Carli Lloyd, Becky Sauerbrunn, Alex Morgan, and Megan Rapinoe, did definitely dominate this past week when they took home the Women’s World Cup title, their fourth time doing so, making them the most successful women’s soccer team in the world.
Despite his disappointment with the pay in women’s sports, Shaq has a lot to be happy about. He recently said that he’s quadrupled his net worth after learning from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and revealed the simple yet effective strategy he used to do so. “The strategy is to invest in companies that are going to change people’s lives,” Shaq explained.
In addition to opening up about the ups and downs of sports and success, Shaq told us who he thinks will be the best basketball team in the upcoming 2019-20 season, and his answer wasn’t surprising in the least bit! “The Sacramento Kings, because I’m part owner,” he confidently said. We can totally see it.