Basketball
Shaq draws inspiration from Muhammad Ali’s generous spirit
Shaquille O’Neal hopes to carry on the legacy of late boxing great Muhammad Ali, the retired four-time NBA champion said, as he uses his extraordinary fame to advance his philanthropic work.
O’Neal will be honored on Saturday at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville for his work supporting underserved youth, a cause that reflects the ideals that “The Greatest” championed, Ali’s widow Lonnie Ali said.
“We don’t give this out lightly,” Ali told Reuters in a joint interview with O’Neal.
“We give it to people who emulate Muhammad’s example, who bring that Ali spirit and carry that torch forward to the next generation.”
She said she sees a lot of her husband, a global icon known as much for his political activism as his boxing brilliance, in Hall of Famer O’Neal.
“He has a compassionate and kind heart like Muhammad had,” she said.
O’Neal, 52, credits the Boys & Girls Club of America as being a safe haven for him when he was growing up in a rough part of Newark, New Jersey.
O’Neal’s foundation has long been a high-profile supporter of the philanthropic organization as part of his mission to create pathways to success for young people.
Muhammad and Lonnie first got to know O’Neal in the early 1990s when he was about to be drafted into the NBA, beginning what would become an enduring friendship.
“I can remember my father telling me one day, if you listen to me, you can be as big as Muhammad Ali,” O’Neal said.
“I didn’t believe it. But I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Ali and when he recognized me in a restaurant, I almost cried. I was like, oh my God, Muhammad Ali knows who I am.
“I don’t consider myself in the same stratosphere as Ali but to have had the opportunity to see him, try to mimic him and to be close to his family.
“Everything I’ve tried to do I’ve patterned after the great Muhammad Ali.”
GOOD DEEDS
O’Neal said another inspiration to perform good deeds comes from his mother, who he plans to bring as his date to Saturday’s awards dinner.
“When I do things, I don’t do them for recognition, I do them because I’ve seen other greats like Muhammad Ali do it,” he said.
“And I’m a mama’s boy, and she always told me to be kind and compassionate and help those in need.”
Since retiring from the NBA in 2011, the larger-than-life profile of “Shaq” has only grown.
He is an analyst for TNT’s beloved “Inside the NBA” and is involved in myriad business ventures, charitable causes and artistic endeavors.
Saturday’s annual awards dinner also serves as a fundraiser for the center, whose mission is to “foster respect, inspire generations of changemakers, and advance social justice”.
It welcomes over 100,000 visitors annually and will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year.
“The first 20 years was getting established and putting Muhammad’s legacy down,” Lonnie Ali said.
“We really wanted the center to be built and grounded while Muhammad was still with us,” she said of her husband, who she was married to for three decades before he passed away in 2016.
“The next 20 years will embody even more of Muhammad’s legacy, talking about his greatness and passing that greatness on.”
-Reuters
By Ugo Okeiyi, Enugu
The end-of-year Ozobz Elite Basketball Invitational Tournament, tagged “Championing the Youth Through Sports, Education and Opportunity,” has taken off and will be concluded on Friday. The three-day event is taking place at the Indoor Sports Multipurpose Gymnasium, Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.
The grassroots basketball competition is designed to serve as a platform for discovering and nurturing the next generation of Nigerian basketball talent.
A total of 14 teams — eight male and six female sides drawn from across the country — are competing for honours in what promises to be an exciting three-day basketball spectacle.
The tournament is powered by the Anthony Ozubuekwe Foundation, in collaboration with the Enugu State Ministry for Youth and Sports Development and the Enugu State Basketball Association.
Organisers say fans should expect high-quality action, with displays of skill, athleticism and tactical awareness from some of the most promising young players in the country.
According to the organisers, the initiative is structured to positively engage young people, steering them away from social vices and criminal tendencies, while using sports as a tool for education, personal development and opportunity creation.
They added that the tournament will also give coaches and team officials a valuable opportunity to assess the mental readiness, discipline and competitive mindset of the players, while providing a conducive environment for athletes to interact, bond and learn from one another.
The competition will be played in a round-robin format, with attractive prize money on offer. In the men’s category, the champions will receive ₦2 million and a giant trophy, while the runners-up will earn ₦1.5 million.
In the women’s category, the winning team will go home with ₦1.5 million, while the second-placed team will receive ₦750,000.
With its blend of competition, youth empowerment and community development, the Ozobz Elite Basketball Invitational is expected to be one of the standout grassroots sports events of the year in Enugu State.
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Former head coach of Nigeria’s men’s basketball team, Alex Nwora, will join family, friends and well-wishers on December 28, 2025, to celebrate the 90th birthday of his father, Chief Charles Okwudi Nworah, in Onitsha, Anambra State.
The milestone celebration, according to Evelyn Childs, Public Relations Officer of the US-based Imo Women Elite Club (IWEC), will take place at the expansive Onitsha compound of the nonagenarian, who is highly regarded in his community.
Born on April 17, 1936, to Akudo and Agnes Nwora of the Okakwu family in Ogbedogwu Village, Onitsha, Chief Nworah’s early years reflected strong family values rooted in education and public service. He attended St. Mary’s Catholic School before moving on to Prince Commercial College, and later completed his secondary education at Baptist High School, Osogbo, in Osun State.
Chief Nworah began his career in the civil service at a young age with the Post and Telecommunications Service (P&T), where his father also served and retired as a senior manager. His professional journey continued seamlessly into Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) following the merger of P&T with the Nigerian External Telecommunications.
Alex Nwora, who led D’Tigers through notable periods of growth and international competition, is expected to play a central role in the celebration, which will bring together members of the extended Nwora family and the Onitsha community to honour the life and legacy of the elder statesman.
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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has conferred national honours on all members of Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, in recognition of their historic victory at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Championship in Côte d’Ivoire.
Each member of the team was decorated with the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) title at a special reception held on Monday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Representing the president at the event was Vice President Kashim Shettima, who announced a series of generous rewards for the champions.
In addition to the national honours, each player will receive $100,000, while each member of the technical crew will be given $50,000. The government also pledged a flat in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to every player and official on the squad.
The rewards follow D’Tigress’s emphatic 78-64 win over Mali in Sunday’s AfroBasket final, played at the Palais des Sports de Treichville in Abidjan. The victory marked Nigeria’s fifth consecutive AfroBasket title, a feat unmatched in the tournament’s history. With the triumph, D’Tigress also secured an automatic berth to the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
President Tinubu, in his remarks delivered by Vice President Shettima, hailed the team’s resilience, determination, and consistency, describing their dominance on the continental stage as a symbol of national pride and inspiration to the youth.
Present at the reception were First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, Garba Maidoki, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Youths and Sports Development, and Kabiru Amadou, Chairman of the House Committee on Sports.
The honours and incentives underscore the government’s renewed commitment to recognising excellence in sports and motivating future champions.
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