Former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal gave some children in Gainesville, Florida, a surprise they never expected.
Shaq, like many others, was touched by the video of Gainesville Police Department Officer Bobby White handling a noise complaint earlier this week. The video shows White responding to a group of teenagers playing basketball after a neighbor reported children playing “loudly” in the street. Instead of reprimanding the teens, White is seen playing basketball with them and reminding them to be considerate of their neighbors.
Shaq was so interested in the story that he reached out to GPD and expressed interest to travel to Gainesville to play basketball with the children. On Saturday, Shaq showed up in the neighborhood and surprised the children and White with a game of basketball.
The public information officer for GPD kept what would’ve been a media frenzied event to a low-key game at Shaq’s request.
GPD said Shaq told police he wanted it to remain a secret, and he wanted to surprise White and the teens. GPD said Shaq specifically said he didn’t want any media.
Officer Ben Tobias, the public information officer for GPD, said he made the decision to not release information prior to the event for the sake of the children.
"I became a cop to help people, and these kids will never forget the day Shaq rolled up to their neighborhood and played basketball with them,” said Tobias. “Without my choice to keep it a secret, I’m not sure this day would have transpired like it did."
GPD tweeted a picture of the friendly neighborhood basketball game with Shaq, White and the children on Saturday.
