Shaquille O'Neal Celebrates Voting For The First Time EVER

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This election is (hopefully) making a lot of people realize just how important voting truly is. Want proof? Take it from a 48-year-old Shaquille O’Neal, who just voted for President of The United States for the very first time.

“I’m honest, I’ve never voted in my life. This is my first time voting,” Shaq said this week, Wednesday on his show The Big Podcast. “I’ve never voted before, America, but now, I’m doing all these voting campaigns and ya know one thing I never like to do, is to be a hypocrite,” O’Neal mentioned that he voted via an absentee ballot. 

Basically, the NBA legend says that he felt like a fraud pushing voting initiatives like his #MyStartingFive challenge–which helps people register to vote for Election Day 2020–while sitting on the sidelines and not participating himself.

“In other words America, I voted for the first time and it feels good,” the retired baller confirmed.

Shaq’s co-hosts on the show were in complete shock, especially after just seeing Shaq virtually sitting next to his friend, President Barack Obama, at Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Clearly, he didn’t get Shaq’s vote back in the day, but now, he’s exercising that right for the first time ever.

In addition to voting, Shaq has also been a huge advocate in supporting Black businesses during the pandemic. Back in September, the NBA legend announced that he would be partnering up with American Express to roll out a new grant program called “Coalition to Back Black Businesses.”

The initiative will dedicate $10 million in grants over the next four years to Black small business owners.

If you’ve never voted before, it’s never too late to start. Head to VOTE.ORG for details, everyone’s doing it.