On the Court With... Shaquille O'Neal (2 page)

Then one day, when Shaquille was only thirteen, his friends decided to steal a car. They broke the window, opened the door,
and piled in. But Shaquille wouldn't get into the car. He knew that stealing a car was a serious crime. His friends called
him names and accused him of being a coward, but Shaquille was finally growing up. He remembered the talk he had with his
father about being a leader. He just turned and walked away.

He later learned that his friends had been caught with the stolen car and were all in big trouble. He breathed a big sigh
of relief and realized he had made the right decision. After that, Shaquille started walking away from trouble. His days as
a troublemaker were over.

Meanwhile, basketball was becoming more important to him. His father began taking him to the
base gym and teaching him as much about the game as he could. Shaquille was already six feet six inches and had been unstoppable
in youth league games, sometimes scoring 40 points or more. But Shaquille's father knew that as his son grew older just being
tall wouldn't be enough to ensure success on the basketball court. Someday Shaquille would have to start competing with players
his own size. He needed to know how to dribble and pass the ball, position himself for rebounds, and shoot away from the basket.

At first, Shaquille felt clumsy when he tried to follow his father's instructions. He tired easily. His body was growing so
quickly that his movements weren't very coordinated. At one point he had to stop playing because his bones were growing so
fast that his knees began to swell up, a condition called Osgood-Schlatter disease. After taking some time off to allow his
body to adjust, he began to make progress.

He also changed his friends and began paying more attention in school. He made new friends on the basketball court. One of
his good friends was another player named Mitch, whom Shaquille later described as “just like Larry Bird.” Mitch was a good
player and playing with him helped Shaquille improve his game.

Shaquille looked forward to playing on the ninth-grade team at the base's high school, Fulda High. A few weeks before tryouts,
he learned that a well-known college coach, Dale Brown, from Louisiana State University, was giving a clinic at a nearby gym.
He hoped to pick up some tips that would help him make the Fulda High team. Most of the other players were young men in the
military, but Shaquille was so big that he looked just as old as everyone else.

Shaquille listened closely as Brown talked about basketball. He watched some players demonstrate the right way to play. At
the end of the clinic, he approached Coach Brown and asked him for his autograph and some tips on how to improve his game
and become stronger. As Brown later recalled, Shaquille said, “Excuse me for interrupting, but I'm going to be trying out
for the team and I need to ask a question. I can't dunk the ball and I've got real bad endurance. Could you show me some exercises?”

Brown showed the young man a few basic exercises, then asked, “How long have you been in the service, Soldier?”

Shaquille looked puzzled, then smiled. “Coach Brown,” he said, “I'm not in the service. I'm only thirteen.”

Brown blinked in surprise. “What size shoe do you wear?” he asked.

“Size thirteen,” answered Shaquille.

Brown couldn't believe that a player so big could be so young. As a college coach, he was always looking for players, and
here was a giant that no other coach had heard of yet. He was impressed with Shaquille, not only for his size but for the
way he carried himself. His shoes were shined and his pants were creased. He was polite, well spoken, and had a quiet confidence
that told Brown that he was beginning to grow up. “Is your dad around?” he asked.

Shaquille's father arranged to meet with Coach Brown. The coach didn't waste any time. Brown told him he thought Harrison's
son would be good enough to get a college scholarship to play basketball. In fact, Brown was already interested in Shaquille.

Harrison's reply surprised Brown. “You know,” he said, “it's fine if he plays basketball. But there are too many blacks who
aren't educated, too many sergeants like me and not enough generals.” Harrison was
more concerned about his son as a person than as an athlete.

Brown was impressed. He gave Shaquille's father his card, wrote down his address, and told him to keep in touch. When Brown
returned to the United States, he sent Shaquille instructions for a set of exercises to improve his strength and endurance.

A few weeks later Shaquille tried out for the ninth-grade team at Fulda High School. Despite his improvement, he was cut.
The ninth-grade coach told him he was too slow and too clumsy and suggested that he try to become a soccer goalie.

Shaquille was disappointed, but he was still determined to improve. He wrote Coach Brown a letter and told him he hadn't made
the team. Brown wrote back and told him to keep working hard, do his exercises, and never give up. Shaquille followed Coach
Brown's advice.

A year later Shaquille showed up for Fulda High basketball tryouts. He now stood six feet eight inches and was finally growing
into his body. He had always been skinny, but now he was beginning to fill out. After months of exercise, he was much stronger.
He wasn't bothered by Osgood-Schlatter disease
anymore. And he was beginning to turn into a player. He could even dunk the ball. This year he made the team.

Coach Ford McMurty was impressed with Shaquille, not just because he could play well but because he seemed determined to succeed.
The tenth-grader listened to every word the coach said and worked hard at practice. The other players on the team began to
look up to him, not just because he was so tall but because of the good example he set as a teammate.

In years past, Fulda had been an easy team to beat. But Coach McMurty knew that no one in the league was as big as Shaquille.
He decided to make the fourteen-year-old the focal point of the team's offense. Early in the season it became clear that with
Shag in control, Fulda was no longer a pushover.

And control was what Shaquille was all about. Although he was big, he knew how to handle the ball and pass. Every once in
a while he would shock his coach with a between-the-legs dribble or a behind-the-back pass. Midway through the season he was
averaging 18 points a game and 12 rebounds. Fulda appeared headed to the playoffs for the first time in many seasons.

But just before the start of the playoffs, Shaquille's father learned that he was being transferred again, this time to Fort
Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Shaquille was happy to be returning to the United States but was disappointed that he had
to leave his team in the middle of the season.

So was everyone else on the base. They enjoyed watching the team. When the soldiers learned that Shaquille was leaving, they
tried to convince Phil Harrison to allow his son to live with another family and finish the season. They even took up a collection
to pay for Shaquille's plane ticket to Texas after the playoffs.

But Shaquille's father didn't want his family to be split up. Even though he knew that Shaquille wanted to finish the season,
he also knew that his son had made great strides in his life. He had arrived in Germany a confused and sometimes troubled
kid. Now he was a respectful young man. Phil Harrison wanted to make sure his son's progress as a person continued. That was
much more important than basketball. It was a hard choice, but he decided that Shaquille would move to the United States with
the rest of his family.

It was time for Shaquille to go back home.

When Shaquille walked into Cole High School in San Antonio, Texas, for his first day of school, everyone looked up to him
— but only because of his size. Shaquille was determined that before long, they'd look up to him because he was a leader.

Although it was too late in the year for Shaquille to join the basketball team, Coach Dave Madura heard about him just moments
after he stepped into the school for the first time. Cole was a small school, and most athletes were far more interested in
playing football than basketball. Those students who preferred basketball were nowhere near as big as Shaquille.

Many students at Cole were from military families and transferred in and out of the school midyear. Madura rarely knew which
players he would have from one year to the next. But because Shaquille
was already in tenth grade, he knew there was a good chance that Shaquille would stay at Cole until he graduated, but there
was no guarantee.

Even after Madura learned that Shaquille had been an emerging star in Germany, he was still a little skeptical. He had coached
many players from military families who had played in Germany, but few of them had managed to adjust to the much more competitive
game played in American high schools. He reserved judgment until he had a chance to see the new tenth-grader play.

When he did, he was pleasantly surprised. Although Shaquille was still sort of clumsy and slow, he was huge. More important,
however, Madura also noticed that Shaquille was eager to learn and worked very hard. He knew that if Shaquille worked hard
enough, he had the potential to be a star. Coach Madura kept a close eye on him for the rest of the year and during the summer.
The more he saw, the better he felt about Shaquille's prospects.

Shaquille, meanwhile, was adjusting well to life in Texas. Before school started the following fall, he told the Cole football
coach he wanted to try out for the football team. To his surprise, the coach replied, “Absolutely not.” It turned out that
Coach Madura
had already spoken to the football coach about Shaquille's potential, and the two men agreed that Shaquille's athletic future
was in basketball. There was simply too much risk of an injury if he played football. As the football coach recalled later,
“We all knew he'd be an NBA player.”

But nobody else did — yet. Since Shaquille had been overseas, no one in basketball, except Coach Brown and Coach Madura, had
ever heard of him. By high school, most talented players have played in summer basketball leagues and attended basketball
camps where college recruiters can take a close look at them. The best players are already known to almost everyone. Shaquille,
however, was still a secret to every college coach in the country except Dale Brown. He wouldn't remain a secret for long.

When basketball practice started in the fall of Shaquille's junior year, Madura was thrilled with Shaquille's performance.
He had improved dramatically and could now dunk the ball with ease. Several of his teammates were also talented players. Madura
knew that the Cole High Cougars were headed for a successful season, particularly if everyone on the team worked hard and
stayed out of trouble.

He didn't have to worry about Shaquille. The junior
had turned his life around completely. When some students tried to get him to smoke marijuana or drink, Shaquille went the
other way. He was respectful in class and wasn't a bully anymore. He was becoming a leader.

Keyed by Shaquille, the Cougars got off to a roaring start, winning every game early in the season, usually by a wide margin.
Coach Madura installed a running offense to take advantage of his team's depth and the fact that Shaquille, despite his size,
knew how to run the court. On the fast break, Shaquille was just as adept at passing the ball as he was at throwing down a
shot.

Cole was one of the smaller high schools in Texas, in Class 2A with other similar-sized schools. But some larger schools,
including a few in the largest school division, Class 5A, had scheduled games against Cole. They assumed these games would
be easy wins.

That may have been true in the past, but not with Shaquille on the court. Early in the season Cole knocked off several larger
schools. As the Cougars piled up win after win, they began to be considere one of the best 2A schools in the state.

Shaquille was playing great, scoring more than 20
points per game, grabbing rebounds by the dozen, and blocking shots. But he didn't care how many points he scored as long
as his team won. He intimidated other teams just by stepping onto the court. As one opposing coach later commented, “We were
beat as soon as our players got a look at Shaquille.”

As the season progressed, Shaquille grew more confident in his abilities. He became more aggressive, jumping higher and dunking
the ball more often. He absolutely loved to dunk the ball. As he became stronger, he didn't just stuff the ball through the
hoop but jammed it in as hard as he could, sometimes hanging on the rim afterward with his mouth wide open. On more than one
occasion, he dunked so hard that he even bent the rim on the basket!

Cole won their league easily, then went on to the state Class 2A basketball tournament. They had little difficulty reaching
the state finals in Austin, Texas, where they put their undefeated record up against Liberty Hills.

Cole was a big favorite to win the game. No one had been able to stop Shaquille all year long, and it didn't appear that Liberty
Hills had a player talented enough to do so, either.

But the Liberty Hills coach had scouted Shaquille and had come up with a plan. The only weak spot in Shaquille's game was
his tendency to get in foul trouble. He was so big and strong that referees sometimes called fouls on him even when he didn't
commit one. At other times Shaquille simply got too excited and fouled someone unnecessarily, particularly when trying to
block a shot. He would jump high in the air and swat the ball away, but lose control of his body on his way back down and
bump into the shooter for a foul.

Liberty Hills decided that their best chance to win would be to get Shaquille in foul trouble. They put that strategy into
play soon after the opening tip. Instead of staying away from him on offense, they went right after him. And on defense, every
time Shaquille tried to get position close to the basket, a Liberty Hills player would fall down to try to make it look as
if Shaquille had knocked him over. Liberty Hills wanted to trick the referees into calling a foul on Shaquille.