When Shaquille O'Neal felt blessed earning $15/hr at LSU: “I Had Died and Gone to Heaven”

Although Shaquille O'Neal is now worth nearly half a billion dollars, that wasn't always the case.

As a kid, O'Neal's father wasn't really in the picture given that he was struggling with drug addiction. While his adoptive father, Sargeant Philip Arthur Harrison was able to help guide a young Shaq, there wasn't an abundance of money flowing through the house.

As O'Neal has admitted in the past, he grew up pretty poor. As a kid who wore the same pair of jeans three times a week, and was often picked on for his appearance, having money was surreal. It wasn't until he was at LSU that he finally had his first taste of what having money was like.

As he wrote in his book, Shaq Uncut, the seven-foot-one standout had the time of his life while at college. While there was nothing at the time to prevent O'Neal from skipping college entirely, or from being a one-and-done player, he spent three years at LSU. When he explains why, suddenly things make sense.

“The other good thing about LSU was they helped us get jobs in the summer, all on the up and up. We made $15 an hour. We got $7 per hour during the summer and the other $8 an hour was allotted back to us during the school year."

"I also qualified for the Pell Grant, which helped low-income students pay for school, so for the first time in my life I actually had some cash. I was convinced I was rich. Free food in the dining hall and some pocket money. I had died and gone to heaven.”

Above you can see some of his insane highlights at LSU, which included a triple-double in the 1992 March Madness tournament.

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The other time Shaquille O'Neal thought he died and went to heaven

As it turns out, that wasn't the only time a young Shaquille O'Neal felt as though he died and went to heaven. There were two instances throughout O'Neal's younger years where he felt the same way. In both instances, it was the result of Dr. J - Julius Erving.

Shaquille O'Neal (PointsBet Built Differently Media Event)

The first instance came when O'Neal was rewarded by his step-father for turning things around in school. Although he wasn't a straight-A student, getting C's meant that Sgt Philip Arthur Harrison would take him to MSG for a Knicks game. When a young O'Neal saw Julius Erving drive baseline and dunk, he had an out-of-body experience.

Years later, while playing at LSU, Shaquille O'Neal had another encounter with Dr. J, one that left him feeling like he had died and gone to heaven. According to him, Dr. J was speaking nearby when he went to Shaq's dorm to find the young seven-foot star sleeping.

When Shaq woke up to Dr. J's hand on his chest, he thought he died and went to heaven.

"I was like, ‘God? God is a black man?’ And then I said, ‘Dr.J?’ After I said that, I thought I was dead. I said, ‘Damn, I’m dying in college? Can you believe this?’ And it was Dr. J. we talked and we had a good conversation.”

You can see the footage of Shaquille O'Neal talking about meeting Dr. J in the video below.