“Penny Hardaway And I Fought Over..”: Shaquille O’Neal Expresses Regret Over Never Winning A Title In Orlando

In 1992, the Orlando Magic drafted perhaps the greatest player in their franchise history. Shaquille O’Neal was the No.1 player on the Magic from the moment he stepped foot into the organization. But, as Shaq learned the hard way, you cannot win championships alone. So, when Penny Hardaway came in, everything looked golden. However, a clash of egos prevented them from finding success, according to Shaq while speaking on the Full Send Podcast.

Back in the day, Big Diesel was a man who took pride in his abilities. In his mind, he was the star of the show, no matter the talent around him. Such was the case during his time with the Lakers, where he was paired alongside Kobe. The two weren’t the biggest fans of each other. That being said, they managed to make things work and co-existed on their way to winning three NBA Championships. The same could have happened in Orlando, but his sheer dominance and extremely high opinion of himself proved to be a problem.

Shaquille O’Neal claims egos prevented him and Penny Hardaway from winning a ring in Orlando

Shaquille O’Neal spent four seasons in Orlando with the Magic. During his time there, The Big Aristotle was unstoppable, completely dominating his opponents from start to finish. He averaged an insane 27 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks per game, leading the Magic to some great Playoff runs.

Their deep runs in 1995 and 1996 are particularly well remembered. They made the Finals in 1995 and got swept in the Conference Finals the following year by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. But, the Magic didn’t find success with Shaq alone, they also had Penny Hardaway.

Penny was drafted by the Magic with the third overall pick in 1993. Both he and Shaq had great chemistry, working well together on the court. After all, Hardaway was a pass-first guy and he always looked for the big man. But, as time went on egos began to grow and the two superstars started to bicker. About what? Nonsensical titles like who was the star of the team.

“We definitely could have got one no doubt. The thing in Orlando was, when you’re young and silly you chase useless titles. Like I know when I got there, I was the man. But, then when Penny got there he thought he was the man. And we were fighting over bulls**t useless titles that didn’t make sense!”

It’s true that there were times when Shaq’s ego and pride outweighed the good of the team. It’s what led to him leaving both Orlando and Los Angeles. However, he finally learned to keep it in check when he moved to Miami.

Shaq understood that his ego needed to take a backseat when he teamed up with Dwyane Wade

Things didn’t work out for Shaquille O’Neal back in LA and Orlando. He was just unable to let his pride go when teaming up with Kobe Bryant and Penny Hardaway respectively. But, that can be boiled down to the fallacy of youth. He was just too immature for things to work in the long run.

However, by the time he got to the Heat, he had grown up a fair bit. And, he knew that in order for him to win a championship in Miami, he would need to take a back seat to Dwyane Wade.

Everyone is entitled to letting their ego run wild once in a while. It just takes some time to learn how to keep a check on it. And, for Shaq, it took 12 seasons in the NBA.