Shaquille O’Neal was picked number 1 overall by the Orlando magic for a reason. He won Player of the Week honors in his first week in the league and it was clear ‘Diesel’ was here to stay. The Magic climbed up the ranks of Eastern Conference contenders in just 4 years of Shaq being on the team.
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Their main competitor however, was none other than Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls. The 1994 NBA Playoffs were the only time from 1994-96 that they didn’t face Jordan in the postseason because, well, he wasn’t in the NBA for that year.
The 1995 Playoffs saw the Orlando Magic be the only team other than the Detroit Pistons to beat the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s in the postseason. They would kick the 3-peat champs out of title contention in the ECSF in 6 games. The Bulls of course, would have their revenge the very next season in 1996.
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Shaquille O’Neal says Michael Jordan is lucky he didn’t guard him
On January 16th, 1993, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls went up against the Orlando Magic led by Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal was only a couple months into his rookie season and yet put up an obscene statline going up against the defending NBA champions.
Shaq dropped 29 points on 11-18 shooting from the field while grabbing an astounding 24 rebounds. He would also block 5 shots in that game. However, the real show-stopper was Michael’s 64 points and 5 steals. He had 64 while shooting 55% from the field but took 49 shots to get to get there.
While reminiscing over this battle that he had with ‘His Airness’, O’Neal took to Instagram to say that MJ is lucky that O’Neal wasn’t the one guarding him as if he did so, he wouldn’t have had 64 points.
Shaquille O’Neal on playing Michael Jordan
Shaquille O’Neal has never been one to concede to another man on the basketball floor. However, one man who made this happen was none other than Michael Jordan. Throughout his career, he faced Jordan 21 times, which included ten meetings in the Playoffs, of which Michael won 12 times.
“He’s the only man that had me terrified on the court. Because I went from high school, admiring him, in college, admiring him, and then he’s right there in front you and all the s*** you see on your poster, like, he’s doing it in real life. He came by me so fast sometimes I was like oh s***,” said Shaq about Jordan.
Also read: When NBA Legend Michael Jordan Offered $25 Million Salary To Lewis Hamilton To Join His NASCAR Team
