New on Sports Illustrated: Shaq Buys Laptop for Shopper Who Offered Condolences for Deaths of His Sister and Kobe Bryant

A man at Best Buy offered his sympathies to Shaquille O’Neal after the deaths of his sister and Kobe Bryant. Shaq told him he’d cover his purchase.

A man shopping at a Georgia Best Buy got quite the surprise when he ran into Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, and Shaq made the moment even more unforgettable. 

Patrick Martin says he was at the Best Buy in McDonough, Ga., south of Atlanta, looking to buy a laptop on Wednesday when he spotted Shaq. Martin offered his sympathies to NBA legend for the recent death of Kobe Bryant and O’Neal’s sister, Ayesha Harrison-Jex,

who died in October after a battle with cancer. 

Moved by the gesture, Shaq told Martin the laptop was on him. Martin wrote in a Facebook post that O’Neal told him to “get the nicest one in here and I'll pay for it.”

That sort of random act of kindness is nothing new for Shaq. He’s purchased musical equipment for a fan in a Guitar Center, shoes for a teenager with size 18 feet and a house for a 12-year-old paralyzed in a shooting. He’s also gone on shopping sprees for himself, though, claiming that his $70,000 Walmart trip to furnish his apartment after being traded to the Suns is the biggest single purchase in the store’s history.