Basketball great Shaquille O'Neal to be honored at Muhammad Ali Center ceremony

Louisville's Muhammad Ali Center will recognize basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal for his work off the court as one of their 2024 Humanitarians of the Year.

O'Neal, one of the NBA's most dominant players of all time, is set to receive the award during the Ali Center's 11th annual Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards on Nov. 9, the Center announced in a news release Tuesday.

Outside of his work as a basketball player and broadcaster, O'Neal serves as a national spokesperson for the Boys and Girls Club of America and is the founder of The Shaquille O’Neal Foundation, "which creates pathways for underserved youth to help them achieve their full potential," according to the release from the Ali Center.

The Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards are the Ali Center's largest annual fundraiser, according to the release. The awards ceremony is meant to honor those who have dedicated their lives to humanitarianism and the principles Ali lived by as a humanitarian himself.

Other award winners announced by the Ali Center include lawyer Bryan Stevenson, philanthropist Nile Rodgers and WAVE-TV anchor Dawne Gee.

During her journalism career in Louisville, Gee has also served as an advocate for various nonprofits based in Kentucky and southern Indiana.

In recognition of her charitable work, Gee received the Keepers of the Dream Award in 2023 and the Chestnut Street YMCA Black Achievers Program as the Adult Achiever of the Year in 2019. She was also recognized as a "Woman of Distinction" in 2015 by The Center for Women and Children, which stated she had left an "indelible mark" on Louisville.

Individual ticket sales for the event will begin in September, the Ali Center stated in the release.

Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at [email protected] or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter

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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Shaquille O'Neal to be honored at Muhammad Ali Center Humanitarian Awards