Category: Entertainment Blog

Entertainment blog

Shaq earns doctoral degree in education

shaquille o'neal

He’s officially Dr. O’Neal now.

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal received his doctoral degree in Education from Barry University Saturday morning along with another 1,100 students during multiple commencement ceremonies at the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami.

Like all things done by the four-time world champion, 15-time All-Star, movie star, rapper and entertainer, O’Neal, 40, accepted the degree in style. Wearing a custom-made, bright red XXXL-sized gown, the seven-foot-one, 325-pound former Miami Heat center got on one knee so Dr. David M. Kopp could place a light blue hood around his big neck.

O’Neal then stood up and lifted his professor like Tarzan was rescuing Jane. “Swept off my feet,” Kopp described the moment, celebrated with loud cheers from the crowd.

O’Neal then walked over and hugged school president, Sister Linda Bevilacqua before walking off stage posing for photos in his cap, gown and hood like all the other graduates. On his way back to his seat, O’Neal strolled by a star struck row of graduates and handed out high-fives like he was walking past his old teammates on the bench.

— Reported by Manny Navarro of the Palm Beach Post

Shaq getting doctoral degree in education

shaquille oneal

This week’s graduating class at Barry University is about to get bigger.

Retired NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal will graduate Saturday with a doctoral degree in education from the Miami Shores university. His 7-foot-1 frame will don a red-and-black velvet gown as he joins 1,100 graduating students at the commencement ceremonies at the James L. Knight Center in Miami.

Known simply as Shaq, he now can call himself Dr. O’Neal. For 4 1/2 years, the former Miami Heat center took 16 courses, completed 54 credit hours and carried a grade point average of 3.813, according to the university. The 40-year-old’s exact degree is in Organizational Learning and Leadership, with a specialization in human resource development.

“He was a good student,” said Dr. David M. Kopp, chairman of the university’s Organizational Learning and Leadership program. “He is very intellectually curious. He is like a sponge, he takes everything in.”

— Reported by Johnny Diaz of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom pulling plug on show

lamar odom

Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian have decided to pull the plug on their spin-off show “Khloe & Lamar.”

Sources tell TMZ, the show’s second season will be its last … because Lamar wants to focus on reviving his fizzling NBA career.

As we previously reported, Lamar was relegated to the Dallas Mavericks’ inactive list after putting up career low numbers this season. If he’s lucky, he’ll be traded. If not, who knows.

— Reported by TMZ

Allen Iverson slapped with restraining order

It used to be that the sight of former Sixers superstar Allen Iverson running up and down the pine, hitting his jump shot, would scare many an NBA opponent.

Nowadays, the dude is just plain scary, according to legal documents filed in Atlanta by A.I.’s once better half, Tawanna Iverson, 36.

The Answer is so frightening, she claims in the filing, that the former Tawanna Turner wants a restraining order issued against him because he’s harassing her and her family, according to a TMZ.com report. (The estranged couple have four children, ages 3 to 17.)

— Reported by Regina Medina of the Philadelphia Daily News

Basketball Wives star Jennifer Williams sues castmate`s personal assistant over slap

“Basketball Wives” star Jennifer Williams is filing a lawsuit Wednesday accusing a Manhattan woman of a flagrant foul for viciously slapping her face during a taping of the reality show.

Williams, ex-wife of NBA player Eric Williams, also has filed a complaint with the state attorney’s office in Florida, said lawyer Sanford Rubenstein.

“Violence used against any person is wrong but when a woman hits another woman it sets a horrible example for young girls everywhere,” Williams told the Daily News.

“I choose to use the justice system to fight back,” she said in an exclusive interview.

The defendant, Nia Crooks, is a personal assistant to “Basketball Wives” co-star Evelyn Lozada. Crooks belted Williams while VH1 cameras were rolling Jan. 21 in the presidential suite of the Gulfstream Park racetrack in South Florida.

— Reported by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News

Carmelo Anthony to appear on Nurse Jackie (Showtime)

Carmelo Anthony

Fans of Knicks star Carmelo Anthony will get a chance to see the All-Star do double duty on Sunday. After Anthony and the Knicks continue to try and lock up a playoff spot Sunday with a Garden matinee against the Miami Heat, fans can watch Carmelo the actor Sunday night.

Anthony will make a guest appearance on Showtime’s hit dark comedy ‘Nurse Jackie’ playing a fallen pro hoops player. In the episode, scheduled to air Sunday at 9 p.m. ET, Anthony plays one of an eclectic group of patients who participate in a group therapy session with the show’s title character (played by Edie Falco) at a Manhattan rehab facility.

Falco plays an emergency room nurse at a Big Apple hospital with a weakness for prescription drugs in the Showtime series which is currently in its fourth season.

— Reported by Andy Clayton of the New York Daily News