Every athlete dreams of competing in the Olympics and winning a gold medal for their country. Shaquille O’Neal was no different as he was eager to represent the USA in the world’s biggest sporting event since he was first eligible in 1992. But when he finally earned the opportunity to play for his country in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, things didn’t go as well as he’d hoped.
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In his book titled ‘Shaq Uncut,’ the Hall of Famer revealed that Spurs icon David Robinson ruined his first and only Olympic experience in 1996. O’Neal played around 17 minutes per game in Team USA’s first seven games and averaged 10.3 points, six rebounds, and one assist. He was saving his best for the final against Yugoslavia but head coach Lenny Wilkens scuppered his plans. O’Neal wrote,
“Before the game Lenny Wilkens came up to me and said, ‘Shaq, you will go to many more Olympics, but this will be David Robinson’s last one, so I’m going to give him most of theminutes.’ Lenny is a very smooth talker, and before I could say anything he just walked off.”
He played only five minutes in the final and banked the only shot he attempted, finishing the game with two points. Robinson played 26 minutes and scored 28 points in his 24th and final appearance for Team USA.
While the rest of the roster basked in the glory, the center couldn’t as he was upset about his limited playing time in the final. O’Neal was so ticked off by his treatment in 1996 that he declined Team USA’s invitation to play in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Nobody knew at the time, but Robinson’s final appearance for his nation was also the last time O’Neal suited up to play for Team USA.
It’s unclear whether O’Neal is still upset about his treatment in the gold medal game. However, he’s proud of the effort he put forth to help Team USA win the tournament for the second straight edition.
Shaquille O’Neal was unstoppable in the 1996 Olympics
Last week, the Hall of Famer took a trip down memory lane and shared a montage of his performance in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The menacing center was a cut above the rest and too difficult to handle for any of Team USA’s eight opponents.
Shaq reminds fans of his glory days playing for Team USA pic.twitter.com/vt7yzG5SwG
— Ballerz Worldwide (@ballaznba) August 2, 2024
The post from an account called ‘Ball Is Life‘ captioned the video, “If Shaq was playing for Team USA in today’s Olympics, what would his stat line look like?” On merit, the three-time Finals MVP would’ve fit perfectly on the star-studded roster playing in Paris.
Head coach Steve Kerr would have likely used the center’s size advantage better than Lenny Wilkens and would’ve undoubtedly given him more than five minutes of playing time in the gold medal match had they made it that far.
