‘I Just Couldn’t Fathom How Big He Was’: Even Michael Jordan Was Scared By Shaquille O’Neal’s Massive Frame

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan has made himself out to be the biggest, baddest wolf, but even he couldn’t help but marvel at Shaquille O’Neal’s incredible size.

The Chicago Bulls legend wasn’t afraid of anyone in the NBA. He quickly assumed his role as the alpha-dog of the league, and he stuck to it like glue.

Trash talking and showing off his competitivness just became who MJ was, you couldn’t separate the two. It was his identity and his style of play definitely mirrored that same mindset.

However, even he couldn’t help but feel a little startled when he met Orlando Magic big man Shaquille O’Neal for the first time.

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Shaquille O’Neal Had Michael Jordan Shook By His Size

In case you haven’t noticed it, Shaq is a big man. He stands at 7’1″ and weighs in at 325 pounds. That’s absolutely huge. His size was a big reason why he dominated the NBA the way he did.

Of course, size isn’t everything, and Shaq showed that by combining his massive frame with incredible footwork and a great variety of moves in the post to firmly establish himself as the best center in the league during his prime.

However, his size definitely helped, and not only to posterize people but also as an intimidation tool. In 1997, Jordan talked to SLAM magazine that his first impression of Shaq was that he was just a gigantic beast, something he couldn’t even process properly. Jordan said:

“[When was the last time] that I was intimidated in basketball? When I first saw Shaquille. How big he is. I mean, that was a short intimidation factor, but [laughs] I just couldn’t fathom how big he was.”

Shaq is quickly becoming everyone’s favorite answer when it comes to picking the one NBA player who intimidated them. Scottie Pippen had the exact same answer as well, showing how Shaq had the attention of the two best players on the most dominant team in the 1990s, the Chicago Bulls.

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Post Edited By: Ashish Priyadarshi
Basketball Michael Jordan NBA Shaquille O'Neal

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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