Shaq shoots for ‘the right thing,’ plans youth facility in east Las Vegas
By Taylor R. Avery Las Vegas Review-Journal
Shaquille O’Neal speaks to a crowd during a press conference at the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal speaks to a crowd of children during a press conference at the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal speaks to a crowd during a press conference at the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom addresses a crowd during the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill speaks during the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal makes a police officer dance during a press conference at the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal poses for a quick photograph during a press conference at the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Boys & Girls club members play basketball during the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Boys & Girls club members play a game of Connect 4 during the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Jalaya McDowel, 6, gets her face painted during the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Members of the Boys & Girls Club react to seeing Shaquille O’Neal walking towards the gymnasium during the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Members of the Boys & Girls Club react to seeing Shaquille O’Neal walking towards the gymnasium during the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Members of the Boys & Girls Club react to seeing Shaquille O’Neal walking towards the gymnasium during the Shaq-to-School event at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal, left, at the Doolittle Complex basketball courts in Las Vegas, Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021. (Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Erik_Verduzco
Shaquille O’Neal speaks about the experiences he had while participating in the Boys and Girls Club in his youth during a press conference at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Lukas Katilius/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal, left, laughs with Sheriff Kevin McMahill, right, during a press conference at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Lukas Katilius/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal laughs as he is interviewed by the media after a press conference at Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Lukas Katilius/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal, right, signs a basketball alongside Lisa Morris Hibbler, the Executive Director of the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation, in the Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School library on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Lukas Katilius/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal rewards a member of the Boys & Girls Club for having the best dance moves during a dance contest in the Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School gymnasium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Lukas Katilius/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal points to the DJ and instructs him to start playing music during a Shaq-to-School event in the Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School gymnasium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Lukas Katilius/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal jokes with LVMPD officers at the Shaq-to-School event in the Mario C. & Joanne Monaco Middle School gymnasium on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Lukas Katilius/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal’s foundation is set to build a Boys & Girls Club in east Las Vegas, the NBA Hall of Famer said Wednesday.
O’Neal grew up going to a Boys & Girls club where his aunt worked after school, which partly inspired his part in building the 17,000-square-foot facility.
“I love the Boys and Girls Club,” he said during a news conference Wednesday at Monaco Middle School. “When I join a community, I just try to do the right thing. For me it’s not about publicity, it’s not about likes. This is what I was taught.”
The club will be located near the northeast corner of north Lamb Boulevard and Kell Lane, near Cortez, Heard and Diaz elementary schools.
The facility is expected to cost $16 million and will also house the country’s first-ever Communities in Schools alumni center.
Clark County commissioners voted last week to donate nearly 5 acres of vacant land to the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation for the facility.
Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada President Andy Bischel thanked the commissioners for the land and thanked Gov. Joe Lombardo, the Interim Finance Committee and U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford for their efforts to secure funding for the project.
The facility will provide K-12 students with “academic, social, emotional, recreational, and tech resources needed for youth development,” according to the foundation.
There are 13 Boys and Girls Clubs in Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas.
The event was attended by several community figures, including City Councilman Cedric Crear, County Commissioner Tick Segerblom, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill and representatives from Lombardo and Horsford’s offices.
Following the news conference, O’Neal joined over a hundred Clark County School District students for an event at the school’s gymnasium.
