“I Feared Michael Jordan”: Shaquille O’Neal Got Real On His Feelings Towards MJ

The fear factor surrounding Michael Jordan’s legacy remains a hot topic on NBA talk shows even today. Shaquille O’Neal once chimed in on this on The Big Podcast and admitted fearing MJ on the court like most of his contemporaries.

Shaq brought this up during a lively debate on NBA G.O.A.Ts with Mario Chalmers. The 52-year-old reminded his guest how no one from the current era seemed intimidated by its biggest star, LeBron James.

He argued this wasn’t the case in the late 1980s and 1990s. ‘The Big Aristotle’ recalled how everyone from that era was cautious of MJ’s presence. He even humbly included himself in this bracket.

“I have heard players say, including myself, ‘I feared Mike [Michael Jordan].'”

“I didn’t think players really fear LeBron like they did Jordan” -Mario Chalmers pic.twitter.com/PywqsFW17Q

— The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) August 30, 2024

About two years ago, Shaq even elaborated on this during an appearance on IMPAULSIVE. He recounted that Jordan was the only ever NBA player to petrify him. The 4x champion explained that his uneasiness partly stemmed from his admiration for MJ. This only intensified when the latter began dominating him on the court.

“He is the only man that had me terrified on the court ’cause I went from high school, admiring him, college, admiring him and then he is right there in front of you and all the s**t you see on your poster, he is doing it in real life. He came by me so fast sometimes, I was like, ‘Oh, s**t’. Yeah, I was terrified.”

Shaq had a clear advantage over Jordan when it came to physical attributes. Only a few could match his towering presence of 7ft 1″ stature with a 7ft 4″ wingspan. His 1995 Orlando Magic was also the last team to defeat MJ’s Bulls in the playoffs.

Despite this edge, Shaq always felt intimidated by 6ft 6″ Jordan. He had good reasons behind it too. For example, MJ sought revenge for the 1995 playoff defeat the following season. In the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals, he averaged 29.5 points per game to help the Bulls sweep O’Neal’s Magic 4-0.

These instances added volume to Shaq’s remarks. Like him, countless others fell victim to Jordan’s relentless drive to surpass his opponents. This mentality was a key factor in The Black Jesus’ success throughout his career.

Steve Kerr, who later played alongside MJ on the Bulls, experienced this firsthand during his rookie season with the Phoenix Suns. In 2011, he recounted a moment from their 1988 exhibition game on the NBA’s channel, saying,

“Michael Jordan gets the ball right in front of our bench and I am already scared to death… He holds the ball and he looks right at me and I’m on the bench… He goes, ‘Watch this’. And he turns. He went right around Dan Marley. Bam! Dunks it. Looks back at our bench and just starts laughing.”

Shaq’s fear of MJ didn’t shock the NBA community at all. Instead, it pointed to the distinctive and unparalleled legacy that ‘Black Jesus’ left behind.