While some of us were busy binging Muppets Christmas Carol and eating an ungodly amount of mince pies and cheese, some celebrities were out there doing random acts of kindness — or "random acts of Shaqness", as this one is apparently called.
Basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, also known as simply "Shaq", or more festively, "Shaq-A-Claus", recently acquired 1,000 Nintendo Switches from his "friend from Nintendo", as well as 1,000 PS5s (presumably not from the same friend). He spoke to Gary Vaynerchuck on The Gary Vee Audio Experience podcast about his Santa-like activities, which he does every year:
"[My family] didn't have a lot, but they taught me the value of giving back to those in need...15 to 20 million kids wake up on Christmas Day and not receive one gift. I felt that one time. I don't ever want a kid to feel like that."
He took these gifts, and a few bikes from Walmart, to an elementary school in Georgia, where the children were ecstatic to see him and to receive unexpected gifts:
On Shaq's 2021 tour, he also visited schools in Las Vegas, where the Shaquille O'Neal Foundation provided toys, laptops, and lunch for even more children, as well as opening a brand-new basketball court where kids can try on Shaq's shoes for size.
Did you get a Switch for Christmas? What were your first games? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 44
Shaq only tries to sell me pizza and insurance..
What a lovely thing to do!
So sad to hear some kids don't get a single Christmas present though
@Total_Weirdo,
I know that tears me up every time, in the U.K there are so many charities making sure disadvantaged kids get to open something on Christmas day, I always buy some extra toys/gifts to donate, and am always happy to see the sheer amount of toys and gifts that have been donated, when I drop mine off.
Well thats real nice of Shaq, even if thats only pocket change to him.
It’s just a lovely thing to do. If we all give a little back then there wouldn’t be so many kids having a miserable Christmas.
That's nice but he could had also give em a free copy of Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn with those Switch and PS5.
A brilliant gesture of giving. Never stop being Shaq, Shaq.
This dude is going to heaven! What a nice thing to do!😊
@Specter_of-the_OLED how about BOTW or Mario Odyssey.
Isn’t Shaq fu supposed to be terrible?
@johnvboy dude take my like cause That’s a cool thing to do.
@Greatluigi This is a different game apart from the original though. Instead of a fighting game, it's an action beat em up and it's made by the same team that made WWE 2K Battlegrounds and whom brought the Witcher III to Switch. Nintendolife gave it a 7/10.
https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch/shaq-fu_a_legend_reborn
“While some of us were busy binging Muppets Christmas Carol and eating an ungodly amount of mince pies and cheese,”
Kate Gray article? (Goes and double checks)
Yep. I just want to say you have such a unique and fun “voice” to your articles and it makes it enjoyable to read new stories I otherwise might not even be interested to read. Thank you and never change!
Why no Xbox? Gamepass would be great for these kids when they can't afford PS5 games...
Thats a nice read. Far too many people, me definately included take life and material things for granted. Its nice to see someone with a substantial amount of money doing something so generous. I know there are other wealthy people that also do this but id imagine there are many that dont.
@Specter_of-the_OLED huh ok but isn’t WWE 2K battlegrounds disliked cause of the micro transactions in it?
"...as well as opening a brand-new basketball court where kids can try on Shaq's shoes for size."
This ain't no Like Mike. If those shoes don't make me play better, I don't want to wear some guy's sweaty old shoes!
Pepsi Stronger Together?
Fritolay?
I hope he also give them some games, cause they are pretty pricey.
@GayusGayer (post 17)
1. I'd assume some sort of charitable program/arm of PepsiCo.
2. It's a chip/snack company.
He is a huge boy lol
Last Christmas, Shaq gave me a Switch. The very same day, I started to play.
@nessisonett,
So true, and it does not have to cost the earth either.
Shaq is awesome. Big heart.
@iLikeUrAttitude Its not a bank breaker for him, definitely.
But 300k isn't pocket change to anyone. That's still a lot of money.
Though i would imagine he get them for a bit cheaper, not sure how much per console if you buy 1000, im guessing he still paid around 250k still though.
@RR529 right. So in reality the consumers of those products paid for these switches and ps5. And then we get slagged off for indulging in christmas festivities after a year of hard work and paying taxes to subsidize these corporations.
This story stinks.
Ha! This is a solid moment of awesomeness that I will use against pompous jerks who said in comments from before that “poor people shouldn’t play video games and that nobody should give them consoles or games as a gift when they should be working instead of gaming”.
This is the kind of celebrity publicity stunt that I am okay with. Hard to critique giving toys to kids in need.
Big fan of Shaq as a kid. Always seemed like a nice guy who really cared. Doesn't try to hide his imperfections in public either unlike most public figures nowadays in the social media conscious era.
@Gamer_Zeus
It's pocket change if your net worth is in the hundreds of millions lol.
@iLikeUrAttitude he didn't even pay for it himself...that's what all the corporate sponsors are for. He's mostly the face. The rest is tax deductable.
This picture says a lot!
Now who wants to play Shaq-Fu?
what an amazing dude
@iLikeUrAttitude and when you're so rich that you do stuff like this all the time - you have people saying "it's no big deal for such a rich guy" all the time
and he keeps doing cool stuff regardless of your attitude
@Gamer_Zeus 300k is absolutely pocket change to 100m+ - billionaires. They make more annually off interest and stock alone annually not to mention the money saved off tax write offs.
For reference Keanu Reeves donated 70% of his salary from the original Matrix movie which was over 30 million to Leukemia research. 300k can easily look like change when you look at it from a high wealthy perspective
Love that sub heading. It is always nice seeing the rich use their money to improve people's lives, I really wish all these companies that make billions in profit would do the same.
When they realize they can't afford the $60 games they can sell it and get something else. Still a lovely gesture.
Awesome. Thank you Shaq.
The Switch would look like the Game Boy Micro in Shaq’s hands! 😉
Great story!
The main question here is did he also give each kid five games to go along with the switch. Because a switch by itself is pretty useless. If he didn't, then that falls on the parents to supply games for it. Which they might not be able to afford.
That's good for him too! public image and tax cuts! But good!
Great gift i’m just wondering who will buy games for those kids to play on their new switch ?!.. who will buy them SD memory cards.
On a side note the Shaq game Shaq Fu is a good game i enjoyed it. Think the switches should’ve been loaded with that game.
Shaq is a solid guy and seems to have a good time with his status. Would be nice if all the other rich, successful athletes were more like him.
Perhaps he should consider opening a store called Game Shaq.
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