Kobe Bryant famously said during his interview with Patrick Bet-David that Shaquille O’Neal would be the greatest player of all time by a country mile if the latter had his work ethic. However, Shaq has always insisted that he doesn’t believe in the ‘one shoe fits all’ prescription. The kind of routine he followed during his NBA years allowed him to thrive in the league for almost two decades.
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Shaq’s fitness once again became the focus when Alonzo Mourning dropped by to feature in an episode of the Big Podcast. Mourning’s appearance proved that some things never change as the 2006 NBA Champion kept pestering the big man about his eating habits. The seven-time All-Star was in charge of keeping Shaq‘s fitness levels in check when the two were teammates in Miami as well.
Then Miami Heat head coach Pat Riley would use Mourning as a tool to shame Shaq into working hard. The big fella was set in his ways when he came to Miami following his stint with the Lakers. He found it very hard to adjust to Riley’s stringent fitness measures.
It was also difficult to impose too many measures on Shaq since he had more chips than the entire Heat franchise. Therefore, Riley would tell Zo to show off his shredded body to try and body-shame Shaq into training harder.
“I never worked out in the summer…they beat me up so much [during the season], I was taking the summer off…I admit I used to take my summer off and work my way into shape,” Shaq said.
The four-time NBA Champion explained that he took the summer off to recover from the beatings he used to take all season long. Opposition defenders would often beat up Shaq in an attempt to contain him, which would take a toll on his body. Additionally, Shaq was so dominant that there were only two or three guys in the league who could guard him.
That’s also a reason why he didn’t exert himself too much in the summer.
However, Shaq admitted that he had to make a drastic change after moving to Miami. Riley had informed him beforehand that he would be required to follow a strict regiment during his stay in South Beach. Shaq had agreed to the terms because he was pumped to dominate the game after he was infamously traded by the Lakers.
But the big fella still struggled to keep up with the program. In the end, he somehow maintained a decent level of fitness throughout his stint with the Heat.
Mourning attested that Shaq indeed worked hard and was in the best shape of his career in Miami, if you discount his first few years with the Orlando Magic.
But there was another reason behind Shaq’s laziness in the offseasons.
Shaq didn’t work hard because he refused to be beaten up twice
During one of his interviews, Shaq revealed how players used to beat him up to try to slow him down and neutralize his size advantage. That’s why the big man refused to give his best in practice.
His philosophy was that there’s no point in getting beaten up twice if he is consistently putting up 28 points and 10 rebounds in the game. That’s what he is paid to do!
Shaq admitted that it’s not a very productive mindset to adopt for a player, but that was his way of doing things back in his day. And it worked out pretty well for him in the end. There’s only an elite coterie of NBA greats who can boast of winning four NBA Championships, a league MVP, and three Finals MVP awards.