Audio Of Shaq's First Interview

It seems a bit weird to me that the NY Times got a hold of Shaq's school work, but I'm not argue. O'Neal talked with Stephen Curry, in a mock on-air interview, and here is the audio and some background on the course he's taking....

The 37-year-old O’Neal insists he will play four more N.B.A. seasons, but he plans on having his own radio and television shows after retirement. He envisions something similar to HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.”

That was why he found himself in broadcast hot seats across the Syracuse campus this week in an intriguing role reversal — conducting interviews instead of giving them.

O’Neal’s three-day broadcast boot camp at Syracuse is a spinoff of the second-year program that the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications runs in concert with the N.B.A.’s players association for players interested in pursuing broadcasting after their careers. Players pay $5,200 for the program. But because O’Neal wanted his own private session, he had to fork over more than $15,000.

“You have to know what you’re doing,” O’Neal said of the basics of broadcasting. “There are a lot of guys who are great speakers, but it doesn’t come off that way unless you have all the other elements. I needed to learn the secrets.”

That was pretty darn good for a first try. Good questions, especially about Curry playing in a smaller conference, and no flubs. O'Neal just might have a future in Sports Media.

O'Neal Hopes To Be Next Big Thing In Broadcasting (NY Times)