Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq’s on his 5th college degree—and tells Gen Z that AI can’t replace sitting across people smarter than you

It’s rare these days for a star college basketball player to stay in school for more than a year, let alone return to finish a degree after turning pro. But Shaquille O’Neal has made a habit of doing just that.

The 7-foot-1 basketball legend spent three seasons at Louisiana State University before becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. He left without finishing his degree, but made a promise to his mother that he would eventually walk across the commencement stage. 

Since then, O’Neal has followed through—and then some. He now has four degrees to his name, including a bachelor’s, an MBA, an Ed.D., and, most recently, a master’s in liberal arts from LSU.

“I’ve always been curious,” he told Fortune. “Basketball was my job, but I never wanted basketball to be the only thing I knew.”

Now, O’Neal is back in the classroom once again, pursuing his fifth degree: a master’s in criminology at Sacramento State University. It might be a surprising use of time for the 54-year-old with an estimated net worth of $500 million, but O’Neal has never lost his appetite for learning.

“Every time I go back to school, I’m challenging myself to learn something new,” he said. “My mother always stressed education, and I’ve always believed that once you earn that degree,........

© Fortune