Shaquille O'Neal recently paid for the engagement ring that he saw a stranger buying.- After video of the encounter emerged, O'Neal said he didn't mean for the footage to get out.
- "I'm just trying to make people smile," he said.
After video of O'Neal buying the ring was shared on social media, he addressed the incident during TNT's NBA post-game show on Tuesday night.
"I saw the guy come in, he was just so shy," O'Neal said. "He was saying, 'Hey, how much do I owe to pay off the ring.'"
Shaq said he decided to help the man out, so he put down his credit card to pay for the ring.
"I was like, 'You know what, tell your girlfriend I got it. Take care of her.'" Shaq said.
-ESPN (@espn) April 7, 2021
"At first he didn't want to take it," Shaq continued. "He was like, 'Man I can't do that.' But I told him, 'Don't worry about it, I do it all the time.'"
O'Neal said that although he didn't mean for the moment to become public, helping strangers is something he tries to do regularly.
"I'm into making people happy," Shaq said. "Whenever I leave the house, I just try to do a good deed. I didn't mean for that to get out, because I don't do it for that, but the guy just came in. He was a hard-working guy."
"I'm just trying to make people smile," O'Neal added.