When Phil Jackson’s Acquaintance Helped Shaquille O’Neal Deal With ‘Unforgiving’ Media Using Michael Jordan’s Strategy

Shaquille O’Neal always wanted to know more about Michael Jordan from his Lakers coach, Phil Jackson. Jackson had been a driving force for the Bulls dynasty from 1989 to 1998. When he joined the Lakers, Phil would talk about the Bulls as a team rather than Michael Jordan. Meanwhile, an intrigued Shaq would later meet George Mumford, who was eager to talk about MJ and his time at the Bulls. Mumford, a psychologist in Phil Jackson’s coaching staff, helped the Big Aristotle find ways to deal with scrutinizing media using Jordan’s example.

While Jackson would focus on the Lakers as a unit, Mumford would distinguish the Bulls squad and the then Lakers. The problem the Bulls also had to encounter was similar to that of the Lakers. While Phil Jackson was reluctant to talk about these problems, Mumford helped Shaq and many others in the Lakers as a bridge between them and their issues.

George Mumford invoked Michael Jordan’s example to help Shaquille O’Neal deal with the media

The NBA players are constantly in the spotlight and have to face the heat and scrutiny of tantalizing media at all times. George Mumford would act as a crucial bridge between the team and their problems, given his experience with the Bulls for over nine years. When Shaq could not deal with the media coverage, he sought Mumford’s advice on dealing with this issue. To this, Mumford would reply, “Well, you know what Mike did in Chicago….”

Mumford would sit one-on-one with Shaq, listen to his issues, and advise him to channel his anger and get rid of it. He took Mumford’s advice seriously, which helped him establish a relatively positive and healthy bond with the media over time.

Several years later, when Shaq recalled this incident in his autobiography, he would fondly remember George for helping him deal with media scrutiny. This is well summed up in this excerpt from his autobiography Shaq Uncut–

“Because of George Mumford, I don’t read newspaper articles anymore. I’ll glance through stuff now and then, but in order for me to react, someone will have to draw my attention to it. I sleep better at night now. That stuff bothered me, so I eliminated it from my life. People say I’m too sensitive. Well, I’d like to see how all of you would deal with someone drilling you in the head every day, questioning your work ethic and intelligence and your manhood.” 

To cope with the media, Shaq learned from Michael Jordan’s mistakes

During his playing days, Michael Jordan would also face some excruciating experiences with the media. One example would be when Jordan endorsed Democrat Harvey Gantt, an African American, for the 1990 Senate race in North Carolina. The media had taken Jordan’s refusal of a stance as his ignorance and sensationalized his now-infamous quote, “Republicans buy sneakers, too.”

Michael’s quote and lack of support for Gantt were severely scrutinized and criticized by the media, leading to bad publicity. On the contrary, the media failed to report Jordan donating to Gantt’s publicity campaign and instead focused on his choice of not becoming a politically exposed person.

Shaq took notes from these instances and created a blueprint to follow. If one would notice, he always chose his words very carefully and would keep a goofy image in front of the media. His positive and welcoming attitude towards the press has helped shaped his image as an endearing personality.