I play against a front and a back every night, Ming does not have to do that, Duncan does not have to do that, Garnett doesn't do that. I am the only one that has to do that.
My father made me who I am. He gave me a basketball and told me to play with the ball, sleep with the ball, dream with the ball. Just don't take it to school. I used it as a pillow, and it never gave me a stiff neck.
When you're in championships, it's never about what you do. It's always about what other people do.
If I were a painter, you'd be calling me Shaqcasso.
I want to be known as 'The Big Shakespeare.' It was Shakespeare that said, 'Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them.'
Our offense is like the pythagorean theorem: There is no answer!
I average 25 with three guys on me and they are just looking at stats I guess.
When I'm done playing basketball, I want do something bigger. I'm working on my doctorate right now at Barry University in Florida.
For all my friends in the media who like quotes, mark this quote down. From this day on I'd like to be known as 'The Big Aristotle' because Aristotle once said, 'Excellence is not a singular act; it's a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.'
We're just going to come out and play. We know that we're supposed to win all the games, but if we don't, we just have to take the next game and focus on what we did wrong in the game before and just try to do better at the next game.
I had an awful first quarter but I picked it up. To all you single guys out there, it's not how you start the date, it's how you finish it sir. A lot of people can, you know, start the date with flowers and candy, but if you don't finish the date - you know what I mean?
We live in an impatient world. Everybody is always looking for the next big Kobe, the next big LeBron, the next big Twitter.
Because I'm so big, you have to look at me. I think of myself as a monument. But sometimes I like to feel small.
When I get old, I'm going to the old folks' home. I don't want to be one of those guys who's hanging around the house bothering the kids. But not just any old folks' home. I want the whole top floor.
David Stern should get with the mothers of the NBA and let the moms decide what the dress code should be. I asked my mother if I could wear a chain, and she told me yeah. So I do stuff that my parents allow me to do.
I'm very educated and can give you somewhat of a vocabulary, but I don't get to the philosophical side.
But, hey I did everything the right way and earned my spot in this game, nothing was given to me.
I was a medium-level juvenile delinquent from Newark who always dreamed about doing a movie.
Kids can still call me Shaq, but adults should call me Dr. O'Neal.
Art is a process of delivering or arranging elements that appeal to the emotions of a person looking at it. It's what you feel.
I'm short and to the point.
I'm like tax. You're going to pay one way or the other.
Can I go one day without somebody saying something negative about me?
I love race car drivers, I love gymnastics, I love UFC, I love police officers, I love firefighters. I just try to give them the same enjoyment they give me.
But that is the only thing that slows me down is the system. No one, two or three was big enough to slow me down, only the system. It was the system that slowed me down to make my numbers fall. Not because I am older.
Why don't you bring your face up here and let me punch it? Then you can tell me (if I'm stronger).
Someday I might have to put down a basketball and have a regular 9-to-5 like everybody else.
When you're righteous, you don't have to tell people that you're righteous.
I've met a lot of artists who wanted to paint me. LeRoy Neiman was one. He did it from a photograph. He made 20,000 copies, and we sold them all.
I have never been a shooter.
I'm a mama's boy above all.
Look up the word role in the dictionary and you'll see it means playing a part. That's why I call myself a real model.
I am the number one Ninja and I have killed all the Shoguns in front of me.
I'm on a mission. And I know the older I get, I may lose a step or two, but it's all up in the medulla oblongata. I've got a lot up there. I've got a lot of knowledge... in this medulla oblongata.
One lucky shot deserves another.
There is no answer to the Pythagorean theorem. Well, there is an answer, but by the time you figure it out, I got 40 points, 10 rebounds and then we're planning for the parade.
I don't get nervous in any situation. There's no such thing as nerves when you're playing games.
When you flop, that's just another message that you don't know how to play me. Stand up and take your medicine like a man.
Nobody's going to tell me how to be different, so stop asking me. Stop asking me what two-plus-two is. Everybody knows two-plus-two is five.
Generals don't panic; then the troops never panic.
I put a lot into it, and when I am done playing, I plan on going undercover and then being the sheriff or chief of police somewhere, either Miami or Orlando, I don't know yet.
I do what I do. Always.
When I tweet, I try and accomplish three things. One, is to make you laugh. Two, is to inform you. Three, is to enlighten you. That's all I do.
Every time I do something silly, it comes off really funny because it's natural.
I just want to keep people entertained.
I never worry about the problem. I worry about the solution.
And I want to do it the right way, like everybody else, not just a famous figurehead that gets a job because he is a famous basketball player. I want to really learn the business.
As a youngster, my mother and father always drilled into my head having something to fall back on. My father was kind of funny. I'd score 40 points. I'd come home and say, 'Look dad, I scored 40.' He'd never have a smile on his face. He'd be like, 'I saw that move you did. What if you'd hurt your knee?'
My job has always been to entertain people. I want people to laugh.
