Shaquille O’Neal stops to help motorist stranded on the side of a Florida highway
O’Neal appeared to be dressed in black, but at a listed 7-foot-1, he may well have helped oncoming drivers see from a distance that something was amiss and proceed with greater caution.
“Hey Basketball Cop Foundation you’re not the only one that knows Shaq,” the sheriff’s office crowed on Facebook.
O’Neal, 48, has long been known for his affinity for law enforcement, even as he was becoming one of the NBA’s biggest stars — both literally and figuratively — in a 19-year career that began when the Orlando Magic made him the No. 1 pick in the 1992 draft. O’Neal, who went on to win three NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the Miami Heat, maintains a home in the Orlando area, approximately two hours southeast of where he pulled over.
Having said in May that the NBA “should scrap the season” rather than attempt to restart its 2019-20 campaign amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, O’Neal claimed last month that whichever team won the title this year would have “an asterisk” next to its accomplishment. The league is bringing 22 of its 30 teams to a Disney-owned property near Orlando, widely referred to as a “bubble” and meant to keep the virus at bay, to finish out a truncated regular season and stage its playoffs.
“It’s going to be difficult for those guys to be inside that bubble. Nobody can leave and [must] eat the same food every day,” O’Neal said in June, in words that proved prophetic. Bubble denizen and Sacramento Kings center Richaun Holmes was recently placed back into quarantine after he briefly left the authorized area to, as he put it, “pick up a food delivery.”
O’Neal, who became an auxiliary deputy last year for the Broward County (Fla.) sheriff’s office, showed Monday that not only was he not in a bubble but was not too worried about social distancing to pull off a highway and offer assistance. The fist bumps, rather than handshakes, were a prudent choice for all involved, not to mention undoubtedly a thrill for the Alachua County deputies.
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