Shaquille O’Neal surprises Houston restaurant customers by paying for their meals on Christmas Eve

Shaquille O’Neal is known for a few different things, most notably his legendary NBA career. In his post-NBA life, Shaq is also known for his random acts of kindness.

The latest example came on Christmas Eve, when O’Neal spread some holiday cheer by paying for meals at a Houston restaurant and deli. In a post shared on Facebook in early December, Kenny and Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen explained the encounter.

“Our friend Shaq visited us today. This was his first time in the new store and he loved it!” reads the post, which also includes a selfie of O’Neal with one of the restaurant’s employees. “He is such a man[s]ch – bought everyone’s food in The Schmooze Room! What a great guy.”

There are no details on how many meals he paid for, but the restaurant’s website describes the Schmooze Room as a large private room used for functions and meetings that can accommodate up to 75 guests.

Comments on the post included several anecdotes from people who have met him in real life. They described him as “generous”, “nice”, “funny” and of course “tall”.

There are many known cases of random acts of kindness done by O’Neal, like this one from 2021 about him buying an engagement ring for someone he met who was buying one at a jewelry store. O’Neal has said in several interviews that he doesn’t do anything to attract attention, and instead tries to do a good deed every time he leaves the house.

The 7-foot-1 star played in the N.B.A from 1992 to 2011. During his career, he won four NBA championship rings and was a 14-time All-Star, among a long list of other accomplishments. O’Neal had his number 34 jersey retired by the lakersno. 32 withdrawn by Miami Heatand #33 for the LSU Tigers, his alma mater.