Jackie Christie & Karrine Steffans

In today’s installment of the pot calling the kettle black, the new cast of ladies for the Los Angeles version of Basketball Wives were recently called out for tackiness by, of all people, Karrine Steffans, aka “Superhead.” Surprising since she was the one who wrote the books about sleeping with married men, including professional basketball stars like Shaq, Shaunie O’Neal’s ex-husband.

But anywho, even though Steffans was spotted out with the new cast last week since Jackie Christie is a friend, she told Chicago’s WGCI that she’s not a fan of the show or the ladies impending foolish behavior:

It’s very dramatic and the issue that I do have with Basketball Wives and VH1 in general is that they pick only African American women, Hispanic, Latino women and then they put them together in these situations and they kind of make them fight. I have yet to see a white girl in the middle of this drama and I feel like it’s perpetuating a particular stereotype that I don’t want to be a part of.

When you were a little kid, did you want to be like fifteen different things when you got older? That’s many of our stories, but somewhere along the way we start believing that we have to choose and that we can only be one thing. The scenario is a bit different for celebrities though. Money, power and access play a huge role in what you’ll be able to see and experience in this life. Once a celebrity has reached a certain amount of success, it seems they start to branch out. And that’s a beautiful thing. We should all pursue all of our goals. But in some cases it’s better to stick to what you know. Here are some celebrities whose extracurricular activities left us scratching our heads.

by Glenn Minnis

Shaquille O’Neal strutted through his Windermere, Fla., ten-in-one arena sized mansion and much of his NBA-going away party with the devilish look of a teenager who knew— at least thought he knew—- something no one else in the world had quite yet figured out.

And why wouldn’t he? Over the course of his 19-year all-star caliber career, the 7-1, 300-plus pounder displayed a sort of Midas touch few others could challenge. Only the Hall of Fame likes of O’Neal can boast of having won four titles, grossed millions upon millions in revenue (modest estimates put his NBA earnings alone in the neighborhood of $300 million) yet realistically speak of perhaps now embarking on an equally lucrative and perhaps even more exciting second stanza.

“It’s time for what’s next,” said O’Neal, who ala fellow NBA legend and human quote machine Charles Barkley who’s since found even more fame as TNT analyst, seems a natural as a television commentator of  some sort.

“That might be on the horizon,” said O’Neal. “But then everything is – I’m not willing to rule too many things out at this point.”

Such is the wonder of a man who’s already seemingly done it all. Indeed, perhaps O’Neal’s greatest option comes in yet another arena we’ve already grown accustomed to seeing him work his magic in. The reality TV circuit seems another junket tailor made for him.

His critically-acclaimed ‘Shaq vs.,’ where he faces off against other star athletes in their walks of fames (Serena Williams in tennis, Albert Pujols in baseball and Sugar Shane Mosley in boxing have been some of his opponents), has run on network TV for the last two summers and word is Shaq may be poised to dedicate more time to it now that his NBA schedule will not be an issue. If his 2009 pre-All-Star game dance off with the Jabbawockeez was any indication even those ‘Dancing With The Stars’ rumors may prove to be more than just that.

“Could be that all of that is on the table,” said the boyishly coy O’Neal. “The only thing I’d rule out at this point is trying to be someone’s coach…unless we’re talking about my three sons.”

(Washington Post) — He was a prolific producer of rebounds and record albums. And nicknames, too, as if at 7-foot-1 and 350 pounds he was too big for the simple “Shaq” that made him an instantly recognizable, one-name star in all of his endeavors.  Shaquille O’Neal had more than 28,000 points and almost 4 million Twitter followers. He appeared in six NBA finals, three times as the MVP, and seven feature films, twice in a starring role.  A 15-time All-Star, four-time champion and the 2000 NBA Most Valuable Player, the 39-year-old O’Neal announced his retirement on Twitter on Wednesday after spending most of his 19th season on the Boston Celtics bench, in street clothes because of leg injuries.  Along with a mid-afternoon tweet saying, “im retiring,” O’Neal included a link to a 16-second video of him saying, “We did it; 19 years, baby. Thank you very much. That’s why I’m telling you first: I’m about to retire. Love you. Talk to you soon.”

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Yesterday, after 19 seasons, the 7-foot-1 center announced his retirement in a rather unorthodox way.

“We did it, 19 years baby,” said O’Neal. “I want to thank you very much. That’s why I’m telling you first, I’m about to retire. Love ya, talk to you soon.”

Those were all the words Shaq expressed through a Tout video.

The Grio.com details the ways the big man changed the game. You can read the article and watch his retirement announcement here.