Shaq the Celebrity

    Everyone knows Shaquille O'Neal the superstar basketball player for many years is an iconic player for many generations and as time goes on so does the nickname Shaq. After this weeks class discussion about different types of celebrities and how some are media born, born into stardom or earn the stardom on their own by being better than others at a specific skill. But what about those who are a combination of the two? Shaq earned his stardom initially through basketball, becoming the star player of the LA Lakers for many years and winning championships consecutive years in a row. Until his retirement in 2011 Shaq was in the spotlight. Post retirement thought the superstar disappeared for a little and then it seemed the media dragged the fading away Shaq back into the spotlight. With media coverage of his life, commercial advertisements and now his own show. While he did have media appearances during his basketball years (which many players do) Shaq continued on after stopping to play. So what would you consider Shaq to be in terms of a celebrity? He did create his basketball talent, but now known for his acting and music career was this self created or heavily influenced by the media and its power to raise people to stardom in any way they see they can.