Earlier this year, as a guest on the Bootleg Kev Podcast, the ex-Orlando Centre Al Harrington talked about all things life, business, and basketball. While on the podcast, shared by ‘inspiredbyhoops’, Harrington was asked about his match-ups with players like Shaquille O’Neal. The 1998 draftee had played against Shaq during his dominant years in the Lakers, Heat, and Suns.
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Though not as dominant as before, Harrington even took a scary charge from Shaq one time. Harrington, recalling the incident, told the host how Shaq went easy on him because he too was from New Jersey, the place Shaq was born.
Al Harrington tells hilarious Shaquille O’Neal incident
Al Harrington was a decent player, whose career spanned 16 years in the NBA. While on the Bootleg Kev Podcast, Harrington recalled an interesting Shaq story. While recalling the incident Harrington said,
“So when he was in Phoenix, bro he was rolling down the lane. And I rotated over to take charge. I just closed my eyes and I said ” God please “, and he hit me and fell on top of me. But you know, it just didn’t hurt. I was like surprised. I was like boom. I opened my eyes and he was looking right at me ” You lucky you’re from Jersey, other than that I would have killed you”. See I was like ” Thank you, big fella. “
The story acts as a reminder of just how dominant O’Neal was. Al Harrington, who is himself 6’9, 240 pounds, is by no measure small. But when faced with O’Neal, Baby Al didn’t stand a chance. But during his Suns days, O’Neal was a bit larger than usual. While Shaq’s body composition has changed throughout the years, his time with the Heat was when he might have been the most slender, since his rookie year.
But after his trade to Pheonix, the Diesel once again ballooned in size, as Pat Riley was no longer around to beat O’Neal into shape. Though the extra pounds may have made O’Neal slightly slower, the blows were stronger.
Shaq liked playing physically during his days
Shaquille O’Neal is a throwback kind of guy and he is proud of it. During an interview with the Guardian, the Big Fella went over his views about current big men in the league. Shaq told the publication,
“So when I was watching big guys play, they fought in the middle. It was like, get in the middle. Right? But then when I came along and started beating people up, big guys started stepping out. All these jump-shooters, just tell me you don’t like contact. I would just beat you up.”
But it’s not only about the physicality of the game that O’Neal liked. Shaq believes that guys in his era were much more competitive as they wouldn’t jump ship just to win a ring. Though Shaq did admit that players now have a lot more pressure to win a ring, than before.
