Shaquille O'Neal admitted he went through a difficult period of transition after his retirement from the NBA in 2011.

O'Neal had signed a two-year deal with the Boston Celtics but was forced to retire after injuring his Achilles.

O'Neal said working for TNT has helped him cope with the end of his playing career.

"...I was actually caught by surprise when [TNT] called me ... The first three months [after retiring from the NBA], I won’t use the word ‘depression,’ because I know depression is real. But when you do something the same for 20 years and it all stops, like I would wake up and just do stuff that I had never done before -- like go outside and get the paper, look at the birds, go to the store and buy bread. It was killing me that I didn’t have anything to do. So once I got that call, it was actually a relief. Because I had left [the NBA] year early. I had a two-year deal in Boston and then I blew my Achilles out. So when I was at home every day by myself, it was awful.”