Shaquille O’Neal, according to Charles Barkley, was schooled by merely one big man and that was Hakeem Olajuwon.
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Weighing anywhere between 325 and 3757lbs at 7’1 is something Shaquille O’Neal had the luxury of being throughout his NBA career. Referring to himself as M.D.E (Most Dominant Ever), O’Neal takes a great deal of pride in the fact that he essentially was unstoppable while in his prime.
A lot of people don’t know this as they feel all Shaq did was dunk the ball, but he actually has scored the most points since tracking data began from the 5-6 feet range. That mini-floater of his is extremely underrated, leading to his offensive game opening up even more things for himself and his teammates.
Aside from playing bully-ball, he could run the floor exceptionally well, especially during his Orlando Magic and early Laker days. It’s safe to say that there weren’t many who could stop Shaq from getting what he wanted.
Charles Barkley on the other hand, would beg to differ.
Also read: Shaquille O’Neal Once Blasted Ben Simmons and Asked Him to Stop ‘Whining’ and ‘Making Excuses’
Charles Barkley claimed Shaquille O’Neal got schooled by one man: Hakeem Olajuwon
Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal have been in a war of words for well over a decade now. So, while on the Draymond Green podcast, Chuck revealed that he actually loves to rile Shaq up as he finds it quite amusing.
He would then go on to say that because of his physical stature, he never truly had to learn strategic ways of beating an opponent, like himself and ‘Inside the NBA’ co-host, Kenny Smith.
“I wish he would sit back and say, ‘Maybe there is a strategy.’ But we all live in our own existence. He’s never like, ‘I need to have a strategy against Stanley Roberts, Dikembe Mutombo, Rik Smits, Patrick Ewing.’ Probably the only big guy who schooled him was probably Hakeem.”
Hakeem Olajuwon won his second straight Finals MVP against Shaq’s Orlando Magic in 1995 by sweeping them. In those 4 games, he averaged 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists.
Did Hakeem Olajuwon really school Shaquille O’Neal?
The lone superstar who took complete advantage of Michael Jordan retiring in 1993 was the man drafted ahead of him in 1984: Hakeem Olajuwon. He led to the Houston Rockets to two straight NBA Finals in 1994 and ‘95, with the latter being a showdown between him and Shaquille O’Neal.
All the focus was on how great Hakeem was that people tend to forget ‘The Big Aristotle’ averaged 28 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in those 4 games on 59.5% shooting from the field. He was matched up against the DPOY as well for a majority of those bouts as well.
In the 20 games they played one another in the regular season, Shaq actually won 14 times, giving him a 70% win rate against him.
