It was a night of who’s who and fine dining at the Hershey Lodge on Monday night for the PA Chamber’s 41st Annual Dinner.
One face stuck up above the rest, literally: 7-foot-1 Shaquille O’Neal, former NBA star turned sports analyst. who brought grace and humor to his role as the event headliner.
Legislators, businesspeople and policy influencers gathered at the Hershey Lodge for a cocktail hour, a three-course meal, and chats with retired U.S. Army General David Petraeus and, of course, Shaq.
Hundreds of people attended, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, Attorney General Dave Sunday and Treasurer Stacy Garrity.
“I think we should be doing so much more in business,” Garrity, who’s running for governor, told Pennlive. “We need to deregulate, eliminate red tape, and bring more business into Pennsylvania.”
Garrity got her start in manufacturing.
Shapiro, as sitting governor, made a nearly 10-minute-long speech. He highlighted, in part, his administration’s work to speed up the permit process from weeks to one day, its success in attracting new data centers to the state, and his “energy leadership,” including Three Mile Island’s resurgence.
“I am a pro-growth governor who embraces innovation, understands business, and I wanna bring prosperity back to every corner of this commonwealth,” Shapiro said.
After a break for dinner, the two featured speakers sat for a question-and-answer session.
Petraeus spoke about leadership and foreign policy to abc27’s Dennis Owens. The station paid to be a media sponsor of the event and had its own table. Petraeus said that while his leadership style changes based on what’s best for those he’s leading, there are some things that he recommends for future leaders.
“I believe that life is a competitive endeavor. You want to compete to be the best, but as you’re doing that, you should compete to be the best team player as well,” Petraeus said. “People don’t want to be led by somebody who is proud to be average, who’s satisfied. They want to be led by somebody who is doing everything he or she can do to be the very best leader possible.”
Petraeus also spoke about Russia’s war on Ukraine and his concerns with China.
“[Vladimir] Putin is a huge menace to the world,” he said. “The world should not allow him to be rewarded for this [invasion of Ukraine].”
After Petraus’ talk with Owens, which lasted for around 30 minutes, O’Neal spoke with Pa. Chamber CEO Luke Bernstein.
The chamber had a surprise for O’Neal, though, after he helped a Pennsylvania female wrestler get to and from meets.
Bernstein told the story of Tamara Humphries, now a first-year wrestler at Pitt-Johnstown, an NCAA DII school. She was a state champion in wrestling, but had trouble trying to get to and from meets. But O’Neal, who read about her plight on social media and then connected with her through her parents, stepped in and quietly bought her an SUV.
“Shaq did what Shaq does. And without any fanfare or attention, he stepped in and bought Tamara a car,” Bernstein said. “That’s why we’re excited to have Shaq here. It’s not about what he’s done — it’s about who he is.”
The big man never had a chance to meet her, though, at least not until Monday night. Humphries helped Bernstein introduce O’Neal before the pair sat down to talk.
O’Neal talked about his upbringing, describing his father as a drill sergeant, well-dressed, and someone that everybody respected on the Army base. After his first NCAA championship at LSU, his father took his trophy and said, “Go get another one.”
As for his mother, he said that she believed in him even after he got cut from his high school basketball team in his first two years. Both of his parents also cared about his education, which pushed O’Neal to go back to school and get his bachelor’s degree, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a doctorate in education.
Now, he’s getting his master’s in sports psychology.
“I wanna be the first sports psychologist who actually knows what the hell he’s talking about,” Shaq said.
Shaq playfully ripped on his longtime friend Charles Barkley multiple times.
“If Charles was here right now, I’d take a Hershey bar and I’d punch him in the face with it and say, Eat it,” O’Neal said. “No, Charles is a great individual. Charles is that big brother that I wish I would’ve had. The respect is never broken.”
The pair also spoke about one of the most iconic duos in NBA history: Shaq and Kobe Bryant.
“When I got him, he was 17. I had already had three kids by then, so I knew how to deal with children, and he was still a child. Kobe was in the gym 6/7 hours a day, that was because of me,” said Shaq, a father of six.
“Even though I drove him crazy, we always had respect for each other,” he continued. “I probably challenged him 100 times in a game, and he’s 100 for 100. Since he was 17, to his last game, every time I challenged him, he always did it. That’s what makes him top two. It’s either him or Mike [Jordan].”
Speaking of his late friend, Shaq’s advice to the crowd was to tell those in their lives how much they love each other.
“When they’re gone, they’re gone forever,” he said.
Other stories about his life also came up — like how he was almost kidnapped in a foreign country, but when he pulled his 7-foot-plus frame out of the car, the kidnappers recognized him and let him go.
He also spoke about how one of his driving factors in business has been to not let his mother lose her house, which he paid for.
Shaq also talked about his legacy.
“I wanna be remembered as just a nice guy,” he said. “Forget how much money I made, that’s not important. I’m all about honor, and I’m all about respect.”
He ended the night by thanking Hershey for having him, saying he also enjoyed his visit to the Milton Hershey School.