Shaquille O'Neal doesn't need much of an introduction. As both a championship basketball player and now as a studio analyst on TNT (not to mention his many commercials) his face is about as ubiquitous as it gets. However, not many people know how it all started. ESPN Films' latest SEC Storied entry chronicles Shaq's early years as a student at LSU and the strong friendship he has with former Tigers coach Dale Brown. He recently talked to Esquire about the film, his thoughts on the upcoming NBA draft, and law enforcement.

In the documentary you mention meeting Coach Brown in Germany. Describe your experience being a military kid.

At that point that I was a straight bum: Thirteen, 6'9", no confidence, couldn't play at all. Thought I'd probably never be able to play, so I'll just join the Army like my father. My life was just wake up, do chores, go to school, come home and do more chores. Everybody on base has a bit of discipline, but my father was a drill sergeant so that was a different type of discipline.

How was your first encounter with Coach Brown?

So my father comes and tells me that a college coach is talking here, so go listen and get tips and maybe one day you'll be good. So one day I go and he asks me, "How long have you been in the Army?" And I told him I'm not in the Army, I'm only 13. So from that day on he'd send me letters and send me moves on pieces of paper.

How would you describe Coach Brown on the court and away from school?

Away from the court he's a father figure, leader, and a motivator. His coaching style is one of belief, it wasn't all about plays all the time, it's about belief that you can get things done. When I was there we played some big games. We beat Arizona when they were No. 1, we beat Loyola Marymount, beat UNLV, lost to Duke twice. It wasn't about execution, it was about his speeches. I only ever played for two other coaches like that, and that's Phil Jackson and Pat Riley.

You mention the schools you considered in the film. Why not any of the Big East schools?

The reason why I went to LSU is because Coach Brown offered me a scholarship when I was nobody. Actually, I wanted to go to Georgetown, because I wanted to be like Patrick Ewing, but they never sent me [an offer] letter.

During your freshman year with Chris Jackson (later known as Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf) and Stanley Roberts, the vibe I get was that selfishness ruined that team. True?

Not selfishness, it's just that everybody was jockeying for position. Everybody wanted to be the man on that team. When I first got there I came off the bench, wasn't really a big deal for me. However, for Chris and Stan, they had been the man their whole careers.

You also talk about not believing you were that good of a player. When did you know?

I arrived there at 17, so I couldn't go out. I just rebounded for Chris Jackson for five hours a day, and I thought, So this is what it takes? I would just drive guys to the club because I couldn't get in and they'd ask me to pick them up at after, so then I'd go back to the gym and practice. After a couple of months I was just as good as the others.

What was school life like away from the court?

I majored in business administration, so my off-court life was just going to class because I never wanted to be one of those athletes that flunked out. I went to practice, went to eat, naps and study hall. I wanted to have the highest GPA on the team and one semester I did with a 3.5.

Years later you returned to get your degree. How was that?

At first it was different, I was like what am I doing here, I have money. But I promised my mother I'd finish, so I had to stick to it. When I first got back, I was in superstar mode, but then I remembered how fun it was, and I got right back into college mode. The first week people asked for my autograph, but when they saw how serious I was, they stopped.

You're a player who often talks about big men in the NBA. How do you feel about the state of big men right now?

I like DeMarcus (Cousins), I like watching Anthony Davis and how he plays and Brook Lopez. Those guys play at a different level.

The top of the upcoming draft stars two big men. Who would you take first between Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor?

I probably go with Okafor first, but Karl-Anthony Towns is pretty good too. This draft is similar to the '92 draft. Okafor is me, Towns is Alonzo [Mourning] and [Frank] Kaminsky is [Christian] Laettner. Kaminsky probably has the best footwork out of them all, but Okafor is bigger, a little bit stronger, and Towns can do it all. It just depends on which team gets the first pick. If the team already has a legit center, they might go with Kaminsky because he can hit the jumper and you can play him at power forward.

There's a scene in the film where you talk about music? It made me think about your rap career and specifically the song "You Can't Stop the Reign" with Biggie. How did that even come together?

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Biggie has said my name in a song and I'm like "Biggie know who I am?" So I met with him and I asked him if he would do a song with me, and he said yeah, free of charge. So I flew him and Lil' Cease down and they stayed at the house in Orlando and I did my verse first because I was nervous, I was like " I can't fuck with Big so let me go first." So then Big came in and he was like that's tight, he sat for five minutes just bobbing his head. So I come in with pen and paper and I asked him if he wanted to write anything, and he's says no. Then he said he's ready and he went in there and killed it. The first version, a lot of people haven't heard, was like real Brooklyn, and I was like "Big, you know I'm PG," and he said my bad and then he did it again and he just did it in one take and I was like wow.

You've talked in the past about your appreciation for law enforcement and having a career as a sheriff. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the current issues between police forces around the country and black men.

It's a touchy situation, but when I become a sheriff I'm going to be one with the community. When I was growing up, you could have a conversation with them. When you see the stuff that's going on, maybe if you're from the suburbs working in the inner city, you don't know… if you see cats hanging out on the corner, it doesn't mean they're doing something. If you're from the neighborhood then you're like, Oh, that's just Jamal and them talking about blah blah blah. You just tell them to keep it down or whatever. Back when I was growing up, police had respect and we need to get that back. I would like to see the people who grew up in those communities policing those communities.

I'm assuming you saw the video of Walter Scott, the guy recently shot in South Carolina.

Yeah, I saw it. I've been in a lot of training sessions and they say you can't do that, you can't shoot a guy in the back.

What are people not understanding about these types of incidents?

One, it's tough being a young African-American male, and two, it's tough being a police officer and there's a big gap in communications. I don't like looking at situations and judging, because each situation is different, but being that I grew up all over, I can communicate in any language, street language, corporate language, etc. So when I'm out I know how to handle different situations. I think another problem is that when one person does something everybody gets categorized. Some people are negative people and some are positive. You can't say all police are bad.

Do you think the training methods need to change?

Training is different, I know the training I went through was great in Miami and L.A, but you have to follow the letter of the law in training and obviously in South Carolina, that's nobody's training right there.

Are you as tough on yourself as studio guy as you were as a player?

My style is different. I'm not one of those 100-percent serious guys. I think people really like our show because of the resume of the guys. Like, when I see certain people talk, I'm like, How do you know? Like, the guy from Grantland, Bill Simmons—how do you know? And you can quote me on that.

Let me ask you, then, because I've been interviewing sports figures for years. What's the difference between writers who didn't play writing about sports and coaches who didn't play coaching?

You know, that's the problem I had as a player sometimes. I'd look at coaches and say "How do you know?" The reason why I gave Phil Jackson respect is that before he came to me he won six rings and Pat Riley had five, but a lot of coaches, I used to question them like, "You want me to front Hakeem Olajuwon so they can throw it over my head and he can do a spin move? No, I'm not doing that shit. You want me to show on a pick and roll with a guard who can't shoot, so he can kick it back to my guy, so he can dot my 'i' with these jumpers? I'm not doing that shit." So me, as a fan now, when I listen to a lot of people, I wonder if they know what they're talking about. People respect us because you got a Hall of Famer in Barkley up there, you got Kenny Smith who won two championships and hit a lot of big shots, and you got me, and Ernie, who's the ringleader of the circus. We add a lot of humor and that's why people love our show.

Give me your playoff predictions?

In the [Western Conference Finals], I see San Antonio vs. Golden State, and in the East it will probably be Cleveland vs. Chicago. In the Finals, I got Cleveland vs. Golden State.

Shaq & Dale premieres Monday, April 13, at 9 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

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