(Photo by Jessica Hoffman)
Wallpaper	Video

That seemingly impossible goal – achieved just one month after his 18th birthday back in 2001 – made O'Neal the youngest person to play in an NBA game at the time. But making NBA history wasn’t enough to satisfy O'Neal. Neither did becoming one of the top players in the league.

When considering all he has accomplished, it’s still important to him to achieve a goal that he plans to continue working on – long after he has retired his jersey. O'Neal wants to be remembered as a person who gave back.

“My philosophy is, ‘Act now how you want to be remembered later’,” O'Neal said. “Are you someone who will be remembered for your talk or your deeds? Are you someone who will be remembered for selfishness or your kindness? Most of all, do you want to be remembered for what you took or what you gave back? How do you want to be remembered?”

O'Neal credits his mother for instilling those values in him at an early age.

“My mother always told me, who are you if you’re not effective … if you don’t take what you have and use it to affect someone else’s life?” O'Neal said.

The 6-11 forward also found inspiration from George Glymph, his high school coach in his hometown of Columbia, S.C.

It was there O'Neal realized he could possibly make it in the pros. He was a junior at the time and starting to get a lot of recognition at Eau Claire High School, which he helped win three state championships.

Although his team was tops in the state, Glymph would never let it go to the players' heads.

“He was the main influence while I was at Eau Claire,” O'Neal said. “He showed me not only how to be a super basketball player but a super human being. A great example of that would be how we treated our opponents who were far less talented than us. During the season our team would have the other teams down by 20 in the third quarter and Coach Glymph wouldn’t allow any of the starters to play from that point forward. “He said that there is no need to show up the other team and make them feel belittled. Humility was what I got from that. I didn’t need to make other people feel bad to make myself feel good. I feel good when I make others feel good.”

Early in high school was around the time O'Neal started working out more intensely.

“At that point I had to be serious about basketball each time I picked up a ball,” said O'Neal, who stood 6-4 by his 14th birthday and 6-9 by the end of his sophomore year.

Looking back, O'Neal said his physical build and talent played in his favor – along with a strong work ethic.

“Not everyone can play basketball,” he said. “It is a small percentage of players who have the opportunity to play in the NBA. But if you do have the skills and the size, you need to work on the game -- dribbling, passing, defense, and shooting.”

It’s also important to work on your mind, he said.

“School is so important because when you are playing basketball at this level you are running sometimes 100 different plays throughout the season with another 100 variations of the same play,” O'Neal said. “You have to be able to read defenses in a split second and react.

“School conditioned my mind just as working in the gym worked my body. You need to work on both to be successful.”

While he was practicing his shots, O'Neal also was keeping in mind his family’s circumstances. His mother, a single parent, was working two jobs to make ends meet. His brother, Clifford, stepped in as a father figure – working to help support the family financially when he got older.

During those tough times, O'Neal kept his eyes on the pros.

“I knew I had to make this basketball thing work. I really realized that basketball could be used as a vehicle to better things the summer heading into my junior year of high school. I was inspired by those who helped me the most through everything,” O'Neal said, noting that his mother, an aunt, his high school coach and his brother all helped him along the way.

“They helped raise me to be the man I am now,” he said.

Family is still very important to O'Neal, who spends most of his spare time with his family. “With my schedule, it is sometimes hard to get special family time, so whenever I get one free moment, I like to be with them,” said O'Neal, who has two young children.

He also likes to bowl, read and play video games.

But more importantly, he’s living up to that pledge to be remembered as a person who gives back.

In 2003, he established the Jermaine O'Neal Foundation, an agency devoted to improving the lives of at-risk children through scholarships, clinics, events and other programs.