From a vantage point, Shaquille O’Neal has admitted to making a lot of mistakes in his NBA career that stemmed from arrogance and his ego. However, that same arrogance and ego fueled a young Shaq’s intense competitive drive and the fire within him to tear up opposition defenses. The Big Diesel developed a contentious relationship with Alonzo Mourning right off the bat after the two star players’ fates were tied by the 1992 NBA Draft. Shaq and Zo butted heads in the NBA since their rookie seasons in the league, which culminated in a full-scale beef after the big fella’s infamous BMW-Bentley comment.
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In the summer of 1996, Alonzo Mourning signed a seven-year $105,000,000 deal with the Miami Heat. In fact, he was touted to become the first player ever to bag a $100,000,000+ deal in the NBA, a title that would eventually go to Juwan Howard. Shaq was also eligible for a max rookie extension at the time. Therefore, he had some interesting things to say about Mourning’s staggering deal.
Shaquille O’Neal compared himself to a Bentley to slight Alonzo Mourning’s $100 million deal
Shaquille O’Neal was picked first overall in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic, just ahead of Mourning. This set the stage for a budding rivalry between the two young stars right from the jump. The tension between the two was further amplified after Mourning said that he should have won the 1993 Rookie of the Year award or at least become a co-winner following Shaq’s win.
This upset the big fella immeasurably and he wanted to cement his dominance in the league as the frontrunner of the 1992 class. Therefore, when his rookie contract expired in the summer of 1996, Shaq made a caustic remark regarding Mourning’s potential $100,000,000+ deal with the Heat. The 7 ft center was also amidst negotiations with the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers for his next stint.
In his 2011 book Shaq Uncut, the big man noted that disliked Mourning trying to one-up him all the time. Therefore, Shaq made a hilarious car analogy during a press conference that was purported to establish him as the top dog. “I didn’t know Zo at all but I didn’t like him. He always thought he was better than me, or at least that’s how it looked from where I was standing…And, when he signed that $100 million contract, I made a comment in the press that if you paid a BMW this much money, how much is a Bentley worth? I was the Bentley. He was the BMW,” Shaq wrote in his 2011 book.
The big man’s cocky remark would age well as he would go on to sign an unprecedented $120 million deal with the Lakers that summer. However, Shaq would eventually apologize to Mourning after his move to Miami in 2004.
Shaq apologized to Alonzo Mourning
Shaq admitted in his Big Podcast that he had apologized to Mourning after he was traded to the Heat in 2004. Despite being the more dominant player at the time, the big man had decided to take the high road.
The duo would eventually team up to win the 2006 NBA Championship for the Heat. The two Hall-of-Famers share an amicable relationship to this day, even partnering at times for charitable causes.
