I’m an unorthodox type of guy, a funny guy - at least I think I’m funny. And one of the things I like to do is come up with nicknames for myself.

O’Neal frames his public persona as deliberately playful and self-invented. By calling himself “unorthodox” and emphasizing that he “likes to do” nicknames, he suggests that identity—especially celebrity identity—is something he actively authors rather than passively receives. The line also points to humor as a strategy for charisma and control: if he names himself, he sets the terms of how others talk about him. In Shaq’s case, self-bestowed monikers function as branding, performance, and a way to keep the spotlight lighthearted while still reinforcing his larger-than-life image.