Shaquille O’Neal’s Father Abused Him as a Child, Which Disturbed His Mother Greatly

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Nov 12, 2011

Shaquille O’Neal is best known for being one of the most dominant centers in NBA history and for his plethora of nicknames. But in his new book, Shaq Uncut: My Story, he discusses a darker time in his life.

O’Neal’s father physically and mentally abused him when he was a child by punching him or even hitting him with a belt, ESPN.com’s Jackie MacMullan reports. O’Neal’s father was a member of the military whose father had raised him that way, so that’s how he was going to raise O’Neal.

The book, which comes out on Nov. 15, is co-written by MacMullan, who spoke with Jason Whitlock of FoxSports.com about O’Neal’s childhood.

“It gets lost in the shuffle because people want to talk about Kobe [Bryant], Pat Riley and LeBron [James] and all these other famous people, but another fascinating part of this book is his father. ‘Sarge’ Phillip Harrison, who, frankly, abused him all the way through his life. Physically abused him, beat the living daylights out of him at every turn. We’re not talking about spanking, We’re talking about a belt. Beating him badly. Something that disturbed his mother greatly.”

O’Neal also praises his father in the book, saying that he made O’Neal the man he is today, but he admits that he would never treat his own children how he was treated.

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