Shaquille O’Neal is one of the rare athletes whose impact off the court may exceed what he accomplished on it. The Hall-of-Famer enjoyed a romantic dinner with a “mystery” date Sunday night in New York City, grubbing on shrimp tempura, Beijing chicken and chicken satay at the Jue Lan Club in Chelsea. The seven-footer treated the entire restaurant (which seats 40 tables) and wait staff to free meals, running up a tab of over $25,000. That doesn’t even include the enormous gratuity he left behind with servers marveling at O’Neal’s generosity.
“He left them the biggest tip they’ve ever received,” a source told Carlos Greer of Page Six. Known to younger generations as a commercial pitch man for products like Epson ink cartridges, The General insurance and Papa John’s pizza, the popular TNT analyst has always loved giving back to the community, including last year when he offered to buy an engagement ring for a man he met at an Atlanta jewelry store. O’Neal made a similar gesture while shopping at an Apple Store in Ibiza, buying new laptops for a pair of young fans.
Shaq can obviously afford it—he boasts an estimated net worth of over $400 million—but in a cold, unforgiving world increasingly divided by corporate greed and self interests, random acts of kindness like these are worth celebrating.
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