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Shaq has amassed a fortune thanks in no small part to the many endorsement deals he’s inked over the course of his life, which includes his partnership with The General—a company he was pretty familiar with because he loved to gamble on the result of paternity tests on Maury.
At this point, it feels like it would be easier to list the brands that Shaquille O’Neal hasn’t linked up with over the years, as the list of entities the legendary big man has plugged includes Burger King, Icy Hot, Gold Bond, Buick, Radio Shack, and many, many more.
There’s also The General, a partnership that has seen O’Neal join routinely forces with an animated member of the military to plug car insurance for years.
During a recent episode of The Big Podcast, Shaq shed some light on his relationship with that particular company while sharing an incredibly amusing anecdote about a show it frequently advertised on: Maury, which was formerly television’s premier destination for people who needed help determining the identity of the father of their child.
Prior to launching into a segment sponsored by The General, Shaq reflected on the days when he used to put some serious money on the line while watching Maury, saying:
“Every morning at 10 P.M., we’d wake up with thousands of dollars and watch the Maury Povich show and we’d make bets on who the father is. Every day.
We’d watch, it we’d let them talk, then we’d pause it and pull that money out. Every morning for years. Then that damn jingle used to come on—”For a great low rate”—so I always had it in my head.”
I can’t help but respect that level of degeneracy.