Infuriated By ‘Cocky Teammates,’ 21-Year-Old Shaquille O’Neal Started An All-Out Brawl in Orlando: “Punch You in the Face”

Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most imposing figures that the NBA has ever witnessed. Standing at 7’1 and over 340 pounds, very few people wanted ‘smoke’ with ‘The Diesel’. That being said, a few of his teammates did manage to infuriate a 21-year-old Shaq during his second year with the Orlando Magic. During practice, a few Magic players decided to act tough and cocky, something that didn’t sit too well with the Big Diesel. But when one of them decided to ‘hack’ Shaq, things got out of control. The Big Man ended up punching one of his teammates and a brawl broke out in the practice arena.

Shaq’s 2001 book, “Shaq Talks Back’, extensively notes the details of the incident. What’s clear from the whole account is that even though Shaq didn’t instigate the fight, he sure wasn’t one to back down from it.

Shaquille O’Neal on the infamous Orlando Magic brawl in LA

In 1994, Shaq had already established himself as the face of the Orlando Magic franchise. Winning the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award the year before, Shaq was the heart of the newly formed NBA team. But this wasn’t apparent to certain players. Players like Larry Krystkowiak, Scott Skiles, and Greg Kite decided to ‘act out’ by behaving in a ‘cocky’ manner in front of the Orlando coaching staff. Though this didn’t sit well with a young O’Neal, he never said anything. Fast forward a few days, the Magic were practicing in The Forum Arena in L.A. Tensions were high as coach Brian Hill wasn’t too amused with the loss the Magic had incurred the previous night.

As practice ramped up, Shaq started getting hacked by the same set of ‘cocky’ players. The Big Fella issued a warning to Greg Kite, telling him, “Listen, you hit me like that again, I’m gonna punch you in the face.” But the warning fell on deaf ears as Larry Krystkowiak was the next to hack O’Neal. By now, the 7’1 center had had enough of his teammates’ behavior and proceeded to punch Larry in the face. Things only aggravated from there as the whole team ended up breaking into a brawl. Shaq even threw punches at point guard Scott Skiles, who was much smaller in size.

Recounting the incident in his book “Shaq Talks Back”, O’Neal noted:

“So now Larry hacks me and I just lose it. I punch Larry in the face. Then Scott Skiles—this dude was little, but he had a big heart—charges me, jumps in, and tries to break it up. I gave him a two-piece. Bing-bing. Everybody is going crazy, the whole team falling over each other in the front row of the Forum, an all-out brawl. I don’t remember much more than that, except Greg Kite’s big head. I hit him square in his head, and I was like, “Ahhhh, that hurts.” With that big blockhead of his, he didn’t even move and I damn near broke my hand.”

The brawl would reportedly bring players like Scott Skiles much closer to Shaq. The whole fiasco was sort of a violent release of tension for the whole team.

Shaq had one of his biggest brawls at LSU

Shaq had always been a loose cannon when it came to confrontations. That stayed true even during his time at LSU. Once Shaq had punched LSU linebacker Anthony Marshall, which resulted in an all-out brawl between the football and basketball players at the University.

Seeing that cops had arrived at the scene, O’Neal quietly snuck out and hightailed to his then girlfriend’s house. Though an interesting story to tell, Shaq later went on to regret his actions which resulted in the entire football team’s arrest.