- Title: Shaquille O'Neal emulates Muhammad Ali's example of service, Ali's widow says
- Date: 8th November 2024
- Summary: PARADISE VALLEY, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 31, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MUHAMMED ALI'S WIDOW, LONNIE ALI, SAYING: "I've wanted to honour Shaq in this way for a very long time. And we don't give this out lightly. It's really we give it to people who emulate Muhammad's example, who sort of bring that Ali spirit forward and carry that torch forward to the n
- Embargoed: 22nd November 2024 01:11
- Keywords: Basketball Boxing Lonnie Ali Muhammad Ali Shaquille O'Neal
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: US
- Topics: North America,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001823307112024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Shaquille O'Neal hopes to carry on the legacy of late boxing great Muhammad Ali, the retired four-time NBA champion said, as he uses his extraordinary fame to advance his philanthropic work.
O'Neal will be honored on Saturday (November 9) at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville for his work supporting underserved youth, a cause that reflects the ideals that "The Greatest" championed, Ali's widow Lonnie Ali said.
"We don't give this out lightly," Ali told Reuters in a joint interview with O'Neal.
She said she sees a lot of her husband, a global icon known as much for his political activism as his boxing brilliance, in Hall of Famer O'Neal.
O'Neal, 52, credits the Boys & Girls Club of America as being a safe haven for him when he was growing up in a rough part of Newark, New Jersey.
O'Neal's foundation has long been a high-profile supporter of the philanthropic organization as part of his mission to create pathways to success for young people.
Muhammad and Lonnie first got to know O'Neal in the early 1990s when he was about to be drafted into the NBA, beginning what would become an enduring friendship.
O'Neal said another inspiration to perform good deeds comes from his mother, who he plans to bring as his date to Saturday's awards dinner.
Since retiring from the NBA in 2011, the larger-than-life profile of "Shaq" has only grown.
He is an analyst for TNT's beloved "Inside the NBA" and is involved in myriad business ventures, charitable causes and artistic endeavors.
Saturday's annual awards dinner also serves as a fundraiser for the center, whose mission is to "foster respect, inspire generations of changemakers, and advance social justice".
It welcomes over 100,000 visitors annually and will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year.
(Production: Conal Quinn) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None