Shaquille O’Neal
Power 100 rank: 7
Rank last year: 6
Sport: NBA/Boston Celtics—C
Age: 39
Most recent notable achievement: 2009 NBA All-Star (15th Selection)
Earnings: $13,500,000
Key sponsors: Vitamin Water, Burger King, Kraft, Pepsi
Why he’s on the list: Shaq announced his retirement last year with a short video on Twitter that started out, “We did it. Nineteen years baby.” Through that time, he earned four NBA Championship rings, 15 all-star selections, and endless other accolades. Key to Shaq’s No. 1 ranking for off-field attributes is his out-sized personality and willingness to have fun at his own expense. He has conducted the Boston Pops and once appeared on Saturday Night Live singing with Will Ferrell. Most recently Shaq was played in an SNL skit by a mumbling, bearded Charles Barkley. It was a parody of Shaq’s latest gig, which gets him back into the game as an NBA commentator for TNT.
Photograph by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
Rank last year: 6
Sport: NBA/Boston Celtics—C
Age: 39
Most recent notable achievement: 2009 NBA All-Star (15th Selection)
Earnings: $13,500,000
Key sponsors: Vitamin Water, Burger King, Kraft, Pepsi
Why he’s on the list: Shaq announced his retirement last year with a short video on Twitter that started out, “We did it. Nineteen years baby.” Through that time, he earned four NBA Championship rings, 15 all-star selections, and endless other accolades. Key to Shaq’s No. 1 ranking for off-field attributes is his out-sized personality and willingness to have fun at his own expense. He has conducted the Boston Pops and once appeared on Saturday Night Live singing with Will Ferrell. Most recently Shaq was played in an SNL skit by a mumbling, bearded Charles Barkley. It was a parody of Shaq’s latest gig, which gets him back into the game as an NBA commentator for TNT.
Photograph by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
