Hear What Shaquille O’Neal Has to Say About Racism in His Interview on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’

The NBA legend is opening up about racism in America, and you should hear what he has to say.

During his virtual interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, basketball star Shaquille O’Neal opened up about the candid conversations he has with his children about police brutality and how to interact with police officers.

.@Shaq on George Floyd, Trump, discrimination, law enforcement, and his family… pic.twitter.com/f0GoY8OHjF

— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) June 3, 2020

O’Neal expressed to host Jimmy Kimmel how often he has to have these conversations. He then went on to reiterate the speech he would give his children: “I tell them, first of all, you have to try to diffuse the situation by showing respect because you have to understand that these people are also out here doing their job. So, you gotta diffuse the situation. And if it happens to get rough, don’t do anything. Don’t say anything. Just comply.”

The former Los Angeles Lakers player, who became a reserve police officer in South Florida back in 2015, also opened up his own experience when weighing in on George Floyd’s death. He called for the arrests of the three police officers who were present when former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd to the ground while kneeling on his neck. O’Neal said, “I’ve never seen that technique taught. A lot of police officers I’ve talked to would never do that. Everybody’s upset. Everybody’s tired. We demand justice.”

Yesterday, O’Neal took to Instagram and joined the #blackouttuesday campaign by posting a black square in order to spread awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement that has been taking over the country and to show solidarity.

We thank Shaquille O’Neal for speaking out and sharing his stories, and hope to see other people with influence continue to do the same. You can watch the full interview, below.