Shaquille O’Neal was, without a doubt, the most physically imposing player since Wilt Chamberlain. At 7’1 “and 325 pounds, O’Neal is built more like an offensive lineman who was scaled vertically, as if he were built in Photoshop. Much of his game was predicated on his size and strength, and he would force his will onto anyone on the court.
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Everyone has seen Chris Dudley, the backup center of the New York Knicks, get bullied under the basket before he simply couldn’t take any more and threw the ball at Shaq. That is a man who nearly became the governor of Oregon, losing his cool because of how little he could do to stop the Diesel.
From Lamar Odom to Alonzo Mourning, the only man who consistently got a leg up on O’Neal was Hakeem Olajuwon. This was the way of life in the 90s and 2000s. Big guys would battle, and their matchup would often define the whole game. To have a player like Shaq was almost always a guaranteed win.
When you think of Brandon Jennings, you don’t think of that time. Still, Jennings and O’Neal faced each other in the NBA twice. It seems like a completely false statement, but Jennings was drafted in 2009, two years before Shaq retired in 2011. The former joined the latter on the Big Podcast, where the two remembered the battles between a young guy and a long-toothed vet.
“You didn’t bother me, but you knocked me on my [butt],” started Jennings. “When you were in Cleveland, I remember going to the lane — and I’m not gonna dunk, you know — but you took me out the air pretty bad and that was my welcome to the league moment right there.”
In what sounded like a bit of remorse, Shaq asked softly, “I did that to you?” before offering a justification and a background on why he had gone after the point guard so hard.
“I knew who you were in high school… so I apologize, I usually, when I like somebody, I give them a pass,” he gave a coy smile and began his list, “I always gave White Chocolate, T-Mac, and Vince one. I never gave you a pass? Sorry…”
Maybe Shaq gave Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter passes because they would happily dunk on him if given the opportunity, but “White Chocolate” Jason Williams seems like a closer comparison to the player that Jennings was.
Hard fouls are justifiably even more policed now than they were even 10 years ago. While they definitely make for great stories, especially on podcasts years later, it’s probably a good thing that players today get to have their “welcome to the NBA” moment be about the speed of the game and not how an opposing center nearly cracked their skull open.
