Shaquille O’Neal has been quite active on Instagram during his offseason break from NBA on TNT. In one of his recent story posts, Shaq shared a clip of Dirk Nowitzki talking about his dominance in his prime years. The big man was in his prime right when he joined the LA Lakers in 1996 on a seven-year $120,000,000 contract.
Advertisement
Shaq could have been the NBA’s first unanimous MVP, which he missed by just one vote in 2000. It was at that time that Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki was emerging in the league as a bona fide star and had received the assignment to guard a prime Shaq during their matchups.
Shaquille O’Neal shares Dirk Nowitzki recalling his dominance during his prime years
Dirk Nowitzki has lived through the dominance of Shaquille O’Neal through most of his early NBA career. In a clip recently uploaded by sportsbiocorner on Instagram, the German basketball star broke down how Shaq’s domineering presence over the rest of the league affected him. Here is a snapshot of the Big Man resharing the clip on his IG story.
Being a ‘skinny’ defender in a much more physical league compared to today, Nowitzki admitted that it was hard to guard Shaq. However, Mavs coach Donnie Nelson had imposed the task of guarding Shaq on the Mavs stars, an experience quite unforgettable for the 2011 NBA champion. Coach Donnie’s plan proved futile against the big man, who easily overwhelmed the Mavs defense in a jiffy. Narrating the experience of witnessing Shaq’s prime, Nowitzki said:
“For Shaq was on top of his game. You know how he is. They were winning every year and you know, he was a force that nobody’s ever seen. So coach Nelson-Donnie, had the idea, ‘Okay, you’re gonna guard Shaq.’ And I kind of looked at him, I was like ‘okay, is this a joke?’ [The game plan was] ‘Every time he crosses half court, you just stand in front of him. You basically front him everywhere he goes and when they lob it over, here comes Big Sean Bradley and then you guys kind of trap him, and it’s gonna work in the game.’…[During the game] Starts right away, he[Shaq] of course kind of seals me, I get around, lob comes. Sean comes. He [Shaq] basically elbows us away. Same thing so, of course, the plan didn’t work at all. We were both way too skinny to handle him.”
Shaquille O’Neal ended up dropping 46 points against the Mavs in that game. Shaq averaged over 20 points and 10 rebounds per game during this prime era, which explained his dominant status very well. To this day, the Diesel’s position remains solid as one of the most dominant centers in the league.
Shaq almost linked up with Dirk Nowitzki in 2004
Shaquille O’Neal almost linked up with the Mavs when he requested a trade from the Lakers in 2004. The Lakers and the Mavericks were very close to agreeing on a deal for Shaq, which would have linked him up with Dirk Nowitzki. Coach Nelson was very much anticipating the presence of O’Neal alongside Nowitzki to bolster the Mavs’ championship contention chances.
However, the deal was called off when the Lakers demanded Dirk Nowitzki in the trade for Shaq. Following this, O’Neal moved to the Miami Heat, where he won his fourth championship alongside Dwyane Wade and Co. in 2006.
