During the height of his NBA career, Shaquille O’Neal was getting by with help from a steady flow of painkillers.
Shaq, 53, revealed to Dax Shepard during a recent appearance on his “Armchair Expert” podcast that he “had to be on pain pills to play” during his 19-year career.
The former Los Angeles Lakers center said he was using “homeboy math” when it came to his dosage.
“If it said take one, I’m taking three… I had to have them, so is that addiction?” he questioned, admitting he “didn’t know” he was addicted at the time.
“Is addicting for the chemical effect or are you just taking it? Because I was having a heated discussion with my doctors like, ‘You were addicted.’ But I didn’t feel high,” O’Neal continued. “I don’t think I was suffering mentally. I think if I had a knack, I would take it [because] I don’t want to feel that knack because we need this game.”
According to the Hall of Famer, his addiction wasn’t exactly a secret. “It’s not that I was hiding it,” he said. “The trainers knew. I mean, I’m not telling my wife or my kids or my boys”
While he didn’t clarify when the addiction started, the New Jersey native played with six teams throughout his career after being drafted by the Orlando Magic in 1992. He was half of the iconic duo with Kobe Bryant when the Lakers won back-to-back-to-back championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. He would go on to win a fourth with the Miami Heat in 2006 before retiring in 2011.
After a self-imposed “lifetime ban” from clubbing, O’Neal allows himself one vice: Hookah.
“I’ve never been into weed,” he said. “[Hookah] enables me to follow the routine of sit your ass down. When I was young and dumb and I lost my family — I lost my family by doing too much, being out, being in too many places. But now I don’t go to clubs, I don’t go to gentleman’s clubs.
