‘Feels good.’ Shaquille O’Neal tells why he waited until age 48 to vote for first time
Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal announced that he’s the living embodiment of the line “better late than never.” On his podcast, the four-time NBA champion revealed that while he has done many great things in his life, there was one thing he had never done: Vote.
Until this year.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession,” Shaq said during the opening of his podcast “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” along with co-host John Kincade. “You know I like being honest on my podcasts. ... I’ve never voted before, America. But now I’m doing all these voting campaigns and you know one thing I never like to be is a hypocrite.”
O’Neal explained that he voted absentee and described the process that involves.
“I voted for the first time, and it feels good,” he said.
“You’re going to get buried for this,” Kincade said before asking the 48-year-old O’Neal why he hadn’t voted before.
“I’ve never understood the electoral college system,” Shaq said.
In an episode that featured Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, the show started on a political note with O’Neal’s confession, along with an explanation of the 2016 presidential election when Donald Trump won the electoral college with 304 votes, compared to 227 for Hillary Clinton. Clinton won the popular vote by almost 2.9 million votes. Trump has argued that he would have “won the popular vote too” if that had been his intention, CNN reported.
In U.S. presidential elections, the president and vice president are not chosen directly by voters, but by “electors” from each state. According to USA.gov, “Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate). Including Washington, D.C.’s three electors, there are currently 538 electors in all.” After the vote is cast, it goes to a statewide tally.
Shaq also confessed that he voted this year because he’s been more involved in the process when it comes to helping candidates get elected to office, including Fani Willis, who beat Paul Howard in the race for Fulton County District Attorney in Atlanta.
“I’m glad you voted, though — that’s awesome,” Kincade said. “You were very honest there.”
“But I’m gonna get roasted,” Shaq replied.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 5:27 PM with the headline "‘Feels good.’ Shaquille O’Neal tells why he waited until age 48 to vote for first time."