Shaquille O’Neal was lucky enough to play against some of the greatest players of the 80s and 90s after he made his debut in the NBA in 1992. Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Patrick Ewing are some of those legends who saw and help prepare the beast that O’Neal would become in a few years.
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However, he missed out on playing Larry Bird by a year as he was playing college basketball at LSU (in 1991-92) while Larry Legend played his last year in the league that had already lost Magic Johnson to an early retirement due to his HIV diagnosis after the 1990-91 season.
Shaquille O’Neal reveals what he thought of Larry Bird while growing up
In a recent appearance on the OG basketball talk show, the Dan Patrick Show, The Big Aristotle told Dan how he heard his friends speak of the Celtics legend’s abilities were more his luck than skills and actually believed it to be true.
At 6ft 9” Bird played as a small forward in his 13-year career impacting the game in all its aspects. He averaged 24.3 points, 10 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in that period.
To put that in perspective, O’Neal, who is arguably the game’s most dominant player has career averages of 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game. You can understand why Bird is top-10 all-time despite winning just 3 championships.
It’s not just Shaq, everyone in the NBA community respects Larry Legend
Larry Bird is the legend of legends, which is why the nickname. Respected by everyone who loves the game of basketball alike, the 3-time MVP ruled the game at the peak of competitiveness.
From Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, and Michael Jordan, to Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon Bird defeated every NBA great of the time to get through to the championships he won, and so each one of them and the world at the time knew and appreciated what they saw.
