Shaquille O’Neal made a stranger’s day a little brighter with a generous act of kindness.
The former NBA star picked up the tab for the man’s engagement ring at a Zales store on Tuesday. Someone recorded the exchange and posted it on Instagram. In the video, O’Neal is seen handing the clerk his credit card and then shaking the stranger’s hand.
O’Neal, who works as an NBA analyst for TNT, said he just wanted to make the man smile.
“So I was in Zales, looking for some hoop earrings and I seen the guy come in and he was just so shy and he was saying, ‘Hey, how much do I owe to pay off my ring?’ So I said, ‘My man, how much is the ring?’ I’m not going to say the amount, but it’s not much for me,” he recalled on Wednesday’s episode of NBA on TNT.
Shaq’s TNT colleagues tried to make fun of him for shopping at Zales, but he set them straight by saying he has his own jewelry collection at the chain.
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"I'm just trying to make people smile… That's all."@SHAQ helped a young man out at a local jewelry store by paying for his engagement ring. pic.twitter.com/eK8n0YHGb7
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 7, 2021
O’Neal described the man as a “young kid and hard-working guy,” and said he did not initially want him to pay off the balance. But the sports legend said he just wanted to do something nice.
“This is something I do every day,” he explained. “I’m into making people happy. Whenever I leave the house, I just try to do a good deed… I’m just trying to make people smile, that’s all.”
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