Over the course of his 19-year career in the NBA, Shaquille O’Neal dunked on countless NBA players. Among them, perhaps one of the most notable players was San Antonio Spurs legend David Robinson. Even though he was once Shaq’s idol, things went sour between the two very quickly after O’Neal entered the NBA. The Lakers icon once channeled all that anger into a nasty poster dunk on Robinson, while the Lakers were on the road in San Antonio. All this happened 23 years before Shaq revealed that he had lied about Robinson, as seen in this post by the NBA.
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O’Neal had no problems slamming it down on most NBA centers of his era. However, Robinson, often referred to as ‘The Admiral’, was a different breed in this regard. In order to face him with the adequate amount of force required, ‘The Big Diesel’ needed to be angry. So, to make that happen, he spread a rumor that Robinson had once rudely refused to sign an autograph for him when he was 13 years old. It certainly did the job for him. However, Shaq waited an awfully long time to admit that the story was a complete sham.
Shaquille O’Neal publicly admitted that his story was false in 2020
In 2020, some of the NBA’s all-time greats held a Zoom call together to catch up on old times. The veterans shared many tales with each other. And as they did, the topic of Shaq’s story came up. And it was only then that Shaq finally admitted to the world, that his story was false. The following is what Robinson and O’Neal said on the matter:
“Shaq: Uh, David (Robinson), I want to say. I apologize for making up that rumor [everybody laughs]. I love you, brother!
Robinson: Shaq got people in San Antonio mad at me because I didn’t sign an autograph for him when he was a kid or something! I don’t know!
Shaq: So uh, David took all my shine when he came to San Antonio, so I hated him for that. And then, first couple of years, he used to kill me. So, I had to make up a rumor to get mad… I used to sprint up and down the court, I used to be like, ‘Man slow down!’. So, I just made all of that up, made up a scenario. ‘Oh yeah, b*tch! When I was 13, you ain’t sign my autograph!’.
Robinson: Man, we were on the Olympic team, sitting together! And I said, ‘Shaq, man, what is this stuff about me not signing some autograph?! He was like, ‘Man, I’m sorry about that, man. I made that up!’ [Roars of laughter].”
“I had to make up a rumor to get mad.” – Shaq@SHAQ apologizes to David Robinson (@DavidtheAdmiral) for making up a rumor about him not signing an autograph when he was younger that he used for motivation. pic.twitter.com/DOmqTmPcqG
— NBA (@NBA) May 18, 2020
To be fair to him, at the very least, Shaq did own up to it to Robinson a long time ago. And to his credit, he did it publicly as well in 2020. However, that did not stop the big man from throwing a nasty dunk on him in 1997, as seen in the tweet below.
Shaquille O’Neal posterizing David Robinson(1997) pic.twitter.com/Cv2cfv3Iir
— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) September 27, 2023
Shaquille O’Neal may have lied quite a bit. However, if it brought on results such as this one, it really is hard to blame him.
Shaq’s domination on Robinson continued throughout the Lakers’ three-peat years
Shaquille O’Neal’s anger towards David Robinson manifested during the Lakers’ three-peat years (2000-2002) as well. And that showed itself during one specific conversation he had with Kobe Bryant. As per the late legend himself, here is what Shaq said to him.
“I remember the playoffs series against San Antonio, we are going into the arena. He (Shaq) leans over to me and he goes, ‘bring it to me early tonight.’”
Shaq may be a lovable giant now. But back in the day, the big man was a relentless monster.
