NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal Shares Emotional Story Behind His Name

Shaquille O’ Neal is man with seemingly infinite nicknames. However, it’s his real name that’s the most interesting.

The legendary NBA center will be featured in an upcoming episode of “Oprah’s Master Class.” In a recently released clip from the episode, Shaq explains the emotional story behind his name, and why his mother chose it.

“My name is Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal,” Shaq says in the clip. “Shaquille is an Islamic name, it means ‘little,’ Rashaun means ‘warrior.’ (His mother) said, ‘You’re my little warrior. I’ve fought with you, I’ve fought for you.’ ”

See O’Neal talk about his name in the following clip, which was uploaded to OWN’s YouTube on Tuesday:

Yeah, definitely more interesting than the “Big Aristotle.”

O’Neal’s episode airs Saturday at 10 p.m. ET on OWN.

Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images