Shaq revealed the 1 concept he used to preserve his fortune as an NBA player

Shaq revealed the 1 concept he used to preserve his fortune as an NBA player Jing Pan Wed, August 19, 2026 at 7:05 AM EDT 6 min read Getty Images / Rob Kim Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below. Shaquille O'Neal was long known for his dominance on the basketball court, earning $292 million as a player in the NBA. But his legacy off the court is equally remarkable, building on his fortune as a savvy investor while staying in the public eye as an analyst on TNT's "Inside the NBA" broadcast. His financial journey started with a costly lesson — he often recounts that he blew his first $1 million paycheck in one day on cars and jewelry before learning he had to pay taxes — yet he found motivation to clean up his act. Must Read Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one JPMorgan sees gold hitting $5,000/oz by Q4 — and savvy investors are protecting their wealth with a tax-advantaged Gold IRA. Get your free guide from Priority Gold The tax breaks in Trump's 'big beautiful bill' expire after 2028. Here are 4 moves to make before the window closes "I saw horror stories about how five years after professional athletes stop playing, they have nothing," Shaq explained during an interview with social media personality James Dumoulin published Dec. 12. "I didn't want to be part of the horror stories, so I had to teach…