Shaquille O’Neal Reveals Reason He Copies Mark Cuban’s Investments (Exclusive)

Shaquille O’Neal has no problem playing follow the leader when it comes to his investments. 

While at the Shaquille O’Neal’s BeatBox Appearance at Big Pod event in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 12, the retired NBA star, 53, caught up with PEOPLE to discuss his expanding portfolio.

Most recently, he invested in BeatBox, a company Mark Cuban invested $1 million in on Shark Tank, which was one of the largest deals in the show’s history at the time.

Cuban found out about the beverage on reality TV, while the former Los Angeles Laker was aware of the ready-to-drink beverage after seeing it at concerts and his DJ gigs.

“I thought it was Capri Sun, and then I tried. I was like, ‘This is pretty good,’ ” O’Neal exclusively told PEOPLE of the drink.

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Reflecting on a call he received from Cuban, 66, about investing in BeatBox, O’Neal said, “I’ve always learned that in order to be great, you have to have conversations with other great people.”

The basketball legend added that the Shark Tank star is essentially his investment muse. “Whenever Mark is investing in, I’m investing in,” he said. “Mark could say, ‘Hey, I got a toilet tissue brand coming out.’ I’m doing it. He’s been very successful since he sold [Broadcast.com].”

Still, the Inside the NBA analyst insisted that his involvement in the beverage company isn’t a “money play,” while admitting he doesn’t even know how much he invested. 

“My spiel to everyone is being a teammate. I’m going to be the one to help take it to the next level,” he told PEOPLE.

For all his investments, of which there are many, O’Neal indicated that he doesn’t have a “favorite”.

“I’m just fortunate and lucky enough to have good friends and have really smart people around me,” he said. “I’ve been in business since ’92. Had a lot of failures, had a lot of success. That’s just business.

“Every company that I’m with, I definitely have to like the product,” O’Neal continued. “I get a lot of opportunities to do business, but if I don’t like your product, I can’t take your money and sell something I don’t like to the people. I just can’t do it.”

In addition to his investments, O’Neal is well-regarded in the nightclub scene, where he goes by his other moniker, “DJ Diesel.” 

“I call it adrenaline reset,” he said of his evenings behind the turntables. 

When asked how DJing before a nightclub crowd compares to playing in the NBA Finals, O’Neal explained, “It’s the same.”

“Because the premise of it is, when I played, my father taught me a very valuable thing. If people are going to pay money to watch it perform, give them a f–king great show,” he continued. “So, same thing.”

O’Neal’s discussion with PEOPLE came after his recent DJ gig in Sacramento, a city considered a “small market” by NBA standards.

O’Neal, though, thinks the “small market” label is about to be a thing of the past.

“I think the small market team definition is slowly dying because of social media,” he told PEOPLE. “You want the best player in the world on your team, or you want to be at a big market team?”

“I’ll take the best player in the world in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. I’ll take that every time,” he continued, referring to the Oklahoma City Thunder star, who won the league MVP and NBA Finals MVP.

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“Back in the day, it was a big market team because of the people per capita: Boston, New York, L.A., Miami. But hey, those teams got to put together a championship product,” O’Neal added. “They haven’t done it in a while. I read something the other day about how Adam Silver has been the commissioner for 11 years, and there have been nine different champions. So the dynasty may be over, too.”