“Banged It On His Motherf***ing Head”: Shaquille O’Neal Highlights Getting Dunked On By Derrick Coleman

We have enough history by now to understand that Shaquille O’Neal is not a guy to be messed with. Shaq is known as a big, lovable goofball off the court, but during his playing days, he was one of the most dominating physical forces of any era. It was rare that Shaq ever ended up on the wrong end of a confrontation, but when he did, you didn’t want to be the one that he was out for revenge on.

Derrick Coleman appeared on the Knuckleheads podcast recently to reminisce about his playing days, and he mentioned one time that he got the best of a rookie Shaq… at least temporarily.

Coleman recalled how, in a game against Shaq’s Orlando Magic, he drove the lane and threw down a vicious lefty dunk right over Shaq.

“I drove that b**** and banged it on his motherf***ing head,” Coleman laughed, then he wagged his finger in Shaq’s face, a move that he says he pioneered before Dikembe Mutombo stole it from him.

 

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As Coleman would soon come to find out, that disrespect was not something Shaq was about to take lying down. Later, Shaq got the ball in the low post, took one dribble, and threw down a two-handed dunk so powerful that it pulled the entire basket and everything with it down to the floor.

The game ended up being delayed for about 40 minutes, and when it finally resumed, Shaq’s Magic went on to win 119-116.

The great ones use their worst moments as fuel, and Shaq certainly did that

Shaq recounted the story of getting dunked on by Coleman during an episode of NBATV’s Open Court when everybody was telling their most embarrassing stories.

Shaq grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and so his family was in the stands to watch him play. He recalled looking up at his mom and dad after getting dunked on and seeing them with their heads in their hands.
Shaq didn’t even talk about his revenge, which just goes to prove that people remember their worst moments better than their best ones.

When Shaq tore down the backboard, it was one of the most unbelievable moments in ’90s basketball, but years later, he just remembers the feeling of embarrassment from Coleman getting him.

For the rest of his career, Shaq was usually the one dunking on people, not the other way around. Even though he was just a rookie when this happened, it foretold just what kind of never-before-seen force he was and was going to be.