Shaq is busy off-court.
The biggest basketball player to ever hit the court — figuratively and literally — has had plenty of small roles during his life, including novelty rapper, movie star, and Icy Hot salesman. Once he stepped away from the spotlight, however, he started to do even better.
He went back to college to earn an MBA as well as a doctorate in education. He’s become an honorary sheriff’s deputy in Georgia, and he even got his music career back up with a recent track about LaVar Ball. He also sits behind the desk for TNT as an NBA analyst as his full-time job. The big guy keeps busy.
Cameron Diaz
Stay-at-home Diaz.
You couldn't throw a sock full of wet chewing gum in the nineties and two-thousands without hitting a Cameron Diaz movie poster, it seemed. She was one of the biggest stars of the era, but her last role was in 2014, and in 2018 she told Entertainment Weekly that she was “actually retired.”
She wants to spend as much time as possible with her kid while her husband Benji Madden works. No nanny for this famous A-lister. Going from a red carpet delight to a stay-at-home mom isn't a move many people would make, but sometimes the thing you're meant to do in life isn't what you always expect.
Danny Lloyd
Shining bright like a farmer.
In 1980, Lloyd starred alongside Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall in the blockbuster horror hit “The Shining,” but after that Lloyd didn't appear in much. In fact, one of the few roles he's had since the eighties was in “Doctor Sleep,” the distant sequel to “The Shining” which came out in 2019.
His Twitter bio states that he's a teacher and a farmer, two of the most down-to-earth jobs that we can think of. Fun fact: While he was filming “The Shining,” Lloyd had no idea it was a horror film — director Stanley Kubrick didn't let him see any of the scary stuff.
Danny Tamberelli
Little Pete has a little podcast.
Tamberelli played “Little Pete” in “Pete & Pete” alongside Michael Maronna, and enjoys a successful life now that he isn't part of the spotlight anymore. He works as a musician, and has had a number of tries at the musical life, including playing bass and singing for the rock band Jounce, and as the bassist for folk/pop band Every Good Boy.
He's on the podcast “The Adventures of Pete and Pete” with Maronna, and is also a touring member of the sketch comedy group Manboobs with Jeremy Balon. He's appeared on a number of other podcasts, has done voice work for “Grand Theft Auto V,” and has a child with his wife.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Left the court behind to do pretty much everything else.
He spent years dominating in the paint as a towering figure for the Milwaukee Bucks and later the Los Angeles Lakers, and then Abdul-Jabbar moved on to coaching, getting all the way up to assistant coach for the Lakers.
This huge man has now embraced his talent as a writer, having written and co-authored more than thirteen books. Many of the books are about himself, basketball, or African Americans, but there are also some children's books, as well as “Mycroft and Sherlock” with Anna Waterhouse. He also applied himself to humanitarian work and earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.