SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The dream his stepfather had long ago becomes reality Friday night at the Springfield Symphony Hall as the LSU and NBA icon, Shaquille O’Neal, is inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
And if Shaq has his way, Sgt. Phillip Harrison’s memory will be front and center at the Symphony Hall.
“And I will probably make one of my relatives move,” O’Neal said Wednesday night on NBA-TV. “And leave an empty seat for Phillip Harrison. I ordered my tickets the other day but I will probably have to make a painful call to one of my cousins, ‘hey I need your seat. I’ll make it up to you,” because I want that seat to be empty. If he was still alive, I know he would be there and be so happy.”
The enshrinement event begins Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT and will be covered live on NBA-TV and NBA.com.
What remains to be seen is will we see the fun-loving Shaq in his acceptance speech or will he be emotional when he talks about his mom Lucille O’Neal and his stepdad Sgt. Phillip Harrison.
It was the fun-loving side of Shaq that came out a few years ago after Coach Dale Brown introduced him in Natchitoches (as he dubbed it “Shaqitoches”) at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. At the College Basketball Hall of Fame induction in 2014 when both Shaq and Dale went in, it was a night of one upsmanship in storytelling.
But there is something magical about the pinnacle of the sport in Springfield. Shaquille will have Julius Erving, Bill Russell, Alonzo Mourning and Isiah Thomas escort him to the stage for his acceptance speech. That’s the moment when it seems to hit the inductees the most and emotions flow. So who knows what the moment will bring out in O’Neal?
At the Thursday press conference at the Hall, which is also opened to a paid crowd at the museum, O’Neal was at his best, strutting the stage like a fashion model with his new Hall of Fame jacket and later bringing a young girl on stage with a Michigan State sweatshirt to take a picture with him and fellow inductee Coach Tom Izzo of Michigan State. Then inductee Sheryl Swoopes got up and told the story that O’Neal offered a million dollars if she would take a pratfall walking up to the stage. Swoopes said only if O’Neal could “show her the money!”
Wednesday night on NBATV, O’Neal sat down with TNT colleague Ernie Johnson for a one-hour chat billed as “The Big Conversation” and to me, as someone who has watched him since his days at LSU from 1989-92 and beyond, this was one of the most articulate and in many ways comprehensive interviews Shaq as given on a national stage. Johnson may need to get some of the credit for that because of his demeanor and style, but O’Neal also took the opportunity to open up on many subjects that many times included his parents.
Some highlights:
“I asked my mother a long time ago why did you name me Shaquille O’Neal. She said because my grandmother told me that you would somebody that will always be remembered. That’s what she told me. Because all my other kids and cousins are Brian, Tony, Jerome … Why did you name me that crazy name? My mother told me that you are going to be world renown. That name Shaquille O’Neal will ring bells.”
“My dream was to make $8 million for 10 years and I already had it set. I had a little house. I was going to get a Blazer and a Mercedes-Benz.” Johnson goes: “So you’ve exceeded your expectations?” “Yes I did. I really did.” laughed O’Neal.
(Talking about Kobe when he first came to the Lakers) “You know how they always say how a guy is in the gym a couple of hours before or a couple hours after practice? That was Kobe Bryant. I’m a veteran. Practice is at 10. I’m arriving at 9:45. He was always there.”
(On the relationship with Kobe now). “We’re cool … The NBA stands for Nothing But Actors. So the beef that we had there will never spill over into real life.”
(On Pat Riley and his LSU Coach Dale Brown) … “(Riley) and Dale Brown when they tell stories before a game, you just want to go out and kill people. Pat Riley and Dale Brown are similar guys. They teach never give up. That’s what took me to the next level. Not training. Not going out in the gym three hours. Conversations.
“Dale Brown had a rule that if you miss class you are going to run. I’m a junior. I’m an All-American … I might be going pro at the end of this year. I might not. I miss class one day. I’m sleeping and I wake up and there is this hand on my chest … I actually think I’m dead. God? There is this white hand on my chest (Coach Brown’s hand). The crazy thing is I got three locks on my door. How the hell did this guy get in my room? … I ran about 15 laps (at Bernie Moore track) … I never missed class again. It took that disciplinarian father-like figure to get me to perform at the next level.”
“A guy asked me the other day are you happy about the hall of fame and I said yea. He said you don’t have a smile on your face. This was (Phillip Harrison’s) dream as well as my dream. He’s my stepfather … But when he started teaching me basketball he always preached three names – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. He told me everything about those guys. He kept saying if you listen to me I can make you as good as those guys. I wanted to be Dr. J, but once I became seven-foot, I got to be like those guys. He would just preach their name all the time. When I heard people say that Shaq is similar to those guys, all that stuff he was telling me was correct.”
One of the more amazing and poignant moments came in the show’s final minutes when Johnson slowly and deliberately asked O’Neal about his biological father and any chance of a relationship. It’s a clip worth watching on NBATV as Shaq appears to wipe away a tear from under his eye as he tells the story of meeting with the man after this past basketball season.
The show is a very amazing look at the life of a sports icon that really in a short time takes you through more than Xs and Os and championships and broken backboards. Shaquille O’Neal is what he is because of his basketball ability at LSU and the NBA. But he has also become an iconic figure in sports. One that has transcended the game into business dealings, television and made a wonderful life for himself and his family.
Friday night, is just another chance for people to recognize the talent and yes the personality that we know as Shaq. It’s going to be quite a night.
Frankly it’s quite a class with him as well: ABA superstar Zelmo Beaty, 27-year NBA referee Darell Garretson, 11-time NBA All-Star Allen Iverson, two-time NABC Coach of the Year Tom Izzo, the first African-American coach in a professional league John McLendon, early African American Pioneer Cumberland Posey, iconic Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, four-time WNBA Champion Sheryl Swoopes and global ambassador of the game Yao Ming.
I just have a feeling that Shaq may just own the night.