“Dream Team snub pi**ed me off”: Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal was incandescent after Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and co picked Christian Laettner

Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal reveals he was jealous after missing out on being a part of the historic Dream Team roster.

To call Shaquille O’Neal’s career a successful one would be the understatement of the century. The former player was an MVP, a 3-time Finals MVP, 15-time All-Star, a 4-time NBA champion, and arguably the most unstoppable force of all time.

But aside from dominant, Shaq has also always been one more thing, salty. Much like Jordan, he used to find something to make him angry and jealous to motivate him. And over the years, this resulted in the former superstar to have less than thick skin. Metaphorically of course.

And in an interview, much after his playing career, the former Laker spoke about one of the biggest things that made him jealous as a player. An opportunity of a lifetime missed because he wasn’t quite good enough, and it killed him. Let’s get into it.

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“I was pissed off, jealous”: Shaq reveals his feeling about being left off the 1992 USA Dream Team

Shaquille O’Neal, as we all know, turned out to be an incredible player. Even in his rookie season, the player was impressive and averaged 23.4 points and 13.9 rebounds.

Unfortunately for the then-rookie, he didn’t get to prove himself worthy to be on the team, since the Olympics happened in July, while the NBA season started in November of the same year.

And while many may point to his career in college, Christian Laettner was believed to be the better player at the time. When Shaq got on an interview on the Mike Wise Show in 2012, he was asked about the Dream Team. And speaking on not being selected, this is what he had to say.

It’s a shame we never got to see this duo at its full potential#PennyHardaway #ShaquilleONeal #NBAMemes pic.twitter.com/caAy2MWf9L

— Magic Nation (@MagicNationCP) April 20, 2021

“I was pissed off. I was jealous… But then I had to come to the realization that I was a more explosive, more powerful player, but Christian Laettner was a little bit more fundamentally sound than I was. Plus, he stayed all four years and graduated. I just think it helped me grow as a player.”

When all things were said and done, the NBA’s superman was far greater than the best that Christian Laettner could manage. However, perhaps the reason he was so great in the first place was that feeling of being snubbed that the player could never quite get over during his career.

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About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.

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