Shaquille O’Neal: NBA Star Turned Police Officer

Yes, you read that right. Shaquille O’Neal has reportedly applied for a position as a police officer in Doral, Florida.

The former Los Angeles Laker applied for the job on Wednesday, according to a report from the Miami Herald. O’Neal retired from his hugely successful basketball career in 2011 after a season with the Boston Celtics, and has since become a prominent television personality. He currently hosts the TruTV show Upload With Shaquille O’Neal and also serves as an NBA analyst for TNT. Shaquille has also been known to try his hand at acting, most recently in Adam Sandler’s Grown Ups 2, and has even released a number of rap albums and collaborated with Michael Jackson. With a long list of ventures and interests, Shaquille is also a part owner of the Sacramento Kings and a real estate entrepreneur.

O’Neal has actually tried his hand at being a cop before, most recently in 2005 when he took a reserve officer job with the Miami Beach Police Department. He has also been a reserve officer for the Los Angeles Police department. The potential job in Doral continues Shaquille’s longtime interest in law enforcement. Currently, he is reported to be continuing the application process with background checks and physical examinations.”If he passes, he will then have to do everything else to be certified by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, just like any of our other officers, reserve or not reserve”, says city spokeswoman Christina Baguer. Shaquille visited the city before applying, posing for pictures and meeting with city council members.

It seems that Shaquille will be continuing his acting and TV career along with his police work, if all goes well with the application process. Recently, it was announced that Shaq will revive his critically panned video game Shaq Fu after a successful crowdfunding campaign was completed in May. O’Neal’s original Shaq Fu game was released in 1994 on the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo platforms. The to-be-released sequel will reportedly be titled Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn. O’Neal’s campaign raised an impressive $473,884, exceeding its $450,000 goal.

Shaquille has been the subject of scandal a number of times as of late, thanks to controversial tweets that allegedly mocked a disabled fan. Jahmel Binion, a 23 year-old fan with a rare genetic disease recently filed a lawsuit after O’Neal cruelly mimicked a selfie posted by Binion on his social media accounts. In addition, O’Neal made news when he posted a cartoon on Facebook in early 2013 that led to a number of homophobic comments from fans.

42 year-old O’Neal is a New Jersey native and current Florida resident. The star owns houses in a number of Florida cities, including a large mansion in Orlando. Shaquille has a history with the Miami area aside from his reserve officer stint in ’05, playing for the Miami heat from 2004-2008.

[Image via Bing]