‘Shaq’: HBO Docuseries on Shaquille O’Neal Is Short But Entertaining (Review)

It’s clear that 2022 was the year of the Los Angeles Lakers. Not so much the basketball team itself because the playoffs slipped through its fingers, but fans got to see the Lakers featured in the Apple TV+ docuseries They Call Me Magic, the Hulu docuseries Legacy, The True Story of the LA Lakers, and the HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. Now, HBO is treating fans again with the docuseries Shaq, which takes a look into the life and career of former Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal. Despite not spending his entire career in Los Angeles, O’Neal is a Lakers legend as he helped the team win three consecutive NBA titles, which is something featured heavily in the second and third episodes of the four-part docuseries. While a good amount of the information O’Neal shares in the docuseries is known, his storytelling ability keeps Shaq entertaining, and fans will get to experience it on HBO and HBO Max starting on Wednesday, Nov. 23. 

The first part of the docuseries focuses on O’Neal’s family and upbringing. He became a dominant NBA player, but his road to the top is not easy because developing his skills took time, and it was interesting to hear him talk about it. But one thing that stood out is an incident in Georgia that could have prevented his NBA dreams from happening. O’Neal admitted to being a bully when he was younger and had to change his ways in order to get to where he wanted to go.

One person featured in Shaq the most is his late father Arthur Harrison who had a military background and was hard on his son. O’Neal made sure let everyone know how much his dad meant to him despite not being his biological father. And speaking off, O’Neal does talk about his biological father and the complicated relationship he had with him.

When it comes to the other three parts of the Shaq, Part 4 is the most compelling because O’Neal gets into why he was traded to the Miami Heat, and it involves him getting into an altercation with then-head coach Pat Riley. The episode then gets into O’Neal’s retirement, business career, family life and Kobe Bryant. Of the four parts, the fourth is the most attention-grabbing as O’Neal gets ready for his personal life. 

The only issue with Shaq is the length of the series. While the first part is over an hour long, the other three parts only last 45 minutes each, which is a little surprising considering how much O’Neal has done on and off the court. But because O’Neal keeps things light throughout the series, it doesn’t seem like a rushed project. 

Shaq also features interviews with O’Neal’s family members and former teammates, specifically Dwyane Wade and Penny Hardaway. It was great to hear about the impact O’Neal made on their careers, but Hardaway was more compelling because he and the Orlando Magic missed out on winning a title with O’Neal and they had to witness him win multiple titles with the Lakers. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an emergence of documentaries on sports figures, which can get old for some viewers. Shaq is not the perfect docuseries as it could have been a little longer, but this is a series that grabs your attention from start to finish because O’Neal’s story is one of a kind.