Shaquille O'Neal reveals he just voted for the first time
When the NBA went out of its way to advocate social justice during its reboot this year, an interesting truth eventually emerged.
Very few NBA players vote. According to one estimate, only 20 percent of the players voted in the 2016 presidential election, compared to a turnout of 55.5 percent.
Given how much has been done to promote voting - the NBA made every player wear a "VOTE" shirt to warm up in the conference finals - it's no wonder the NBPA pushed for up to 90 percent of those who registered to vote Players to win, many of them beginners.
As it turns out, a former NBA star is also voting for the first time in this year's election.
Shaq: "I've never voted in my life."
Shaquille O'Neal: First Voter. (Photo by: Nick Agro / E! Entertainment / NBCU Photo Bank / NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
During an episode of "The Big Podcast with Shaq," released on Wednesday, O'Neal announced to co-hosts that he had just submitted a postal vote for the 2020 election. He said he had never done it before:
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession. You know I always like to be honest on my podcast. I've never chosen America before. But now I'm doing all of these election campaigns and you know one thing I never enjoy doing is being a hypocrite. So the other day I got my postal vote. ... In other words, America, this is my first choice and it feels good.
"I'm honest. I've never voted in my life. This is my first vote. I promise you."
When O’Neal was informed of the reveal by his co-hosts, O’Neal mentioned his confusion with the electoral college and specifically the 2016 presidential election in which Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton despite losing nearly 3 million votes in the referendum.
Although he apparently never voted, O’Neal has historically been active as a donor and fundraiser for a variety of reasons including, yes, voting campaigns.
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