BECKLEY — The monikers are many.

When you think of former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, you might think of “Shaq Diesel,” “The Big Shaqtus,” “Shaq Fu,” “The Real Deal” or simply “Shaq.”

Borrowing his original moniker and some of his game from former NBA star Charles Shackleford, O’Neal rose to superstar status in the NBA and beyond. Reality shows and rap albums. One of the NBA’s all-time greats and an entrepreneur.

On Sunday, “The Big Aristotle” was in Beckley, as the speaker for the annual Big Atlantic Classic Tip-Off Banquet.

O’Neal said his nicknames and his fun-loving ways were all part of the package he felt he owed his legion of fans.

“I met a guy one day with (young) kids and he said, ‘Look, I don’t make a lot of money and my kids make me come (to games). Thanks for putting on a great show.’

“So my thought process was for all the fathers and all the mothers and all the families that spend their hard-earned money to come to a game, I have to give them a show. I don’t want them to pay all that money for a game I’m playing in and they don’t have a good time.

“I just came up with the nicknames for everyone’s amusement.”

O’Neal was a four-time NBA champion, a multiple MVP and a 15-time NBA All-Star. He played for six different franchises during his 19 NBA seasons.

He was drafted out of LSU No. 1 overall by the Orlando Magic. He made his biggest splash with the Lakers, where with Kobe Bryant, he led the franchise to three NBA titles. He also played with Dwyane Wade and won a title in Miami, played with the Phoenix Suns, joined LeBron James in Cleveland and played his final year in Boston with the Celtics.

He has seen the talent pool in the NBA and he has an idea of where it stands now.

“I think it’s down,” O’Neal said. “I remember growing up there were at least 15 to 20 great, great players. Now there’s only four or five and you have about 20 good players. It’s definitely down. Hopefully guys like LeBron, D-Wade and Kobe can keep it going and we have some new guys coming in who can keep it up.”

O’Neal isn’t for the so-called cartels, where players align themselves together on teams as James, Wade and Chris Bosh did last year with the Miami Heat.

“It’s everybody’s choice to do it how they please,” O’Neal said. “I was always told in order to be the best you have to beat the best. Guys like Michael Jordan did it that way. Magic (Johnson) did it that way. To each his own. You have to give (Miami Heat president) Pat Riley credit for pulling a deal like that. They definitely have two or three great players and hopefully they can get one or two (titles) under their belt.”

O’Neal is less than a year removed from retiring from the NBA and emphatically said he will not make a comeback.

“I’m actually loving it,” O’Neal said. “As you can see, I’ve got a hot girlfriend back there (reality star Nicole “Hoopz” Alexander). We just wake up and whatever we want to do, we do. Just have fun.”

So no comeback?

“No, never,” O’Neal said. “My girlfriend won’t let me, my Achilles (tendon) won’t let me and my mind won’t let me.”

Shaq said he has no regrets. Like Sinatra, O’Neal said, “I did it my way.”

“The only thing that sticks out is I did it my way, which was the correct way,” O’Neal said. “I designed my own commercials. Did my own marketing. Played how I wanted to play. And I did it my way. I really feel comfortable about that.

“I missed a lot of games due to injuries. I’m No. 5 on the (all-time) scoring list. I missed like 300 games averaging 20 points, so if I hadn’t missed those games, I’d probably be No. 2 right now. And, of course, I missed a lot of free throws.”

— E-mail: demorrison@

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