Shaquille O’Neal shares story about buying laptops for stranger’s school-aged children

“I got you,” the gregarious “Inside the NBA” analyst said during a recent interview about what he told the mother during the chance encounter, per ESPN. “… My motto lately is it could be worse, and that could be you.”

O’Neal made headlines earlier this year when footage surfaced on social media showing him paying for a man’s engagement ring after hearing the stranger express concern how he would finance the jewelry.

Shaq frequently engages in such random acts of generosity. Over the years, O’Neal has paid for the funeral expenses of a slain Louisville football signee, and even donated a home to a family who lost their 12-year-old son in a shooting, among myriad other similar gestures.

O’Neal obviously has the wealth to afford such thoughtful acts, but that does not take anything away from nor diminish how his actions can transform strangers’ lives. It’s clear that the Hall of Famer relishes playing the role of Good Samaritan when the opportunity presents itself.

“$1,500 ain’t nothing to me but – mom trying to help her babies go to school. … DO IT,” O’Neal said of the laptop purchases.