NBA: Shaquille O'Neal Motivated By Martin Luther King In New Business Venture

NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal is fueled by Martin Luther King Jr. as he explores a new business venture.

After a stellar and lengthy NBA career, O’Neal has evolved into a shrewd entrepreneur. In fact, his latest venture is a partnership with Miles College – a tie-up that will reportedly help bring a Papa John’s Pizzeria to every historically black college and university campus in the nation.

In a statement issued through the Purpose PR firm in Birmingham, O’Neal commended HBCUs for upholding equality on their endeavors, Birmingham Times reported.

“Historically Black Colleges and Universities have paved the way for African Americans and people of other races to receive a quality education deservedly,” O’Neal said.

O’Neal even emphasized a compelling quote from MLK and channeled the late activist’s belief towards his new business venture. “Martin Luther King, Jr. said, ‘If you want to move people, it has to be toward a vision that’s positive for them, that taps important values, that gets them something they desire and it has to be presented compellingly, so that they feel inspired to follow,’” O’Neal noted.

Miles College President Bobbie Knight was excited about the new venture. According to her, the school is honored to have O’Neal as their partner. She also described the NBA legend as a business genius and admitted to being thrilled to bring Papa John’s on their campuses.

“Miles College is honored to partner with Shaquille O’Neal and welcome him to our historic and beautiful campus,” Knight said in a statement.

“Shaquille is a skilled investor, savvy entrepreneur, and marketing and branding genius. This partnership tells the world that this is Miles College’s day, and this is Miles College’s time to show America that HBCUs can join icons like Shaquille and launch business ventures like Papa John’s on our campuses,” Knight added.

O’Neal is best known for his historic championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Together with Kobe Bryant, they managed to bring 3 NBA titles to LA. During O’Neal and Bryant’s glory days with the team, “Shaq” revealed in an exclusive interview that they had “extra powers” in the organization.

However, the 3-time NBA Finals MVP never cared about the extras Bryant was getting from Lakers because he knew that he can also get what he wanted.

“I know I can get what I want. He got to do whatever he want, I got to do whatever I want. That’s just the name of the game,” O’Neal emphasized.