NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal spent his Christmas giving away hundreds of PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch consoles to underprivileged kids over Christmas, it has emerged.
The former basketball star revealed on Gary Vaynerchuk's podcast, The Gary Vee Audio Experience, that not having a lot growing up really taught him the "value of giving back". As a result, he gave away no less than 1,000 consoles over the festive period.
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O'Neal, who is worth an estimated $400million, stressed the importance of giving what you can and being generous with what you have.
"You know for me, coming from where I come from, my father was a drill sergeant, my mother just was a hard-working woman," he explained. "Didn't have a lot. But they taught me the value of giving back. They taught me the value of helping those in need."
He added that during his work with retailer Toys R Us he learned that 15 to 20 million children in the US wake up on Christmas with no gifts to open. "I felt that one time," he said. "I don't ever want a kid to feel like that."
"So, as long as I'm on this Earth, I'm always trying to do what I can to make sure kids get good toys. I call, you know, my friend from [Nintendo], got about 1,000 [Nintendo Switches] sitting there, got about 1,000 PS5s, I went to Walmart and got bikes. 'So, you know, yesterday, at this little elementary school in McDonough, Georgia, kids were crying, kids were happy, and that's what it's all about."
At a time where many with access to multiple PS5 consoles are using their privilege to hoard the hardware and sell it on at inflated prices, it's heartening to see O'Neal do exactly the opposite.
Featured Image Credit: SonyTopics: PlayStation, Nintendo