Coming straight out of the vaults of ‘What Could’ve Been’ is an altercation that took place between Shaquille O’Neal and former All-Star center, Brad Miller. Making an appearance on the All The Smoke podcast, Miller recalls what went down during a game between the Bulls and the Lakers. And while Miller had some interesting takes on what would’ve transpired if Shaq had landed that punch, his ultimate conclusion interestingly said otherwise.
Advertisement
Miller was asked to share some behind-the-scenes tidbits on the infamous punch thrown by Shaquille O’Neal in a Los Angeles Lakers-Chicago Bulls matchup back in 2002. And the way he first addressed what could’ve been a knock-out punch is, admittedly, pure gold.
The former NBA man started off by mentioning it was an unsaid rule of sorts to foul Shaquille O’Neal in order to prevent him from dunking the ball since he was a poor free-throw shooter. And so, when the two faced off during the contest in question here, he did just that during one of Shaq’s forays to the rim.
However, while Miller might’ve wrapped Shaq in his arms to avoid a poster, it was Charles Oakley who ended up hitting both O’Neal and inadvertently, Brad in the face.
20 years ago today: Shaquille O’Neal vs. Brad Miller.
Both were ejected. Shaq was fined $15K & suspended for 3 games. Miller was suspended for one game.
Charles Oakley was suspended for 2 games (one for the flagrant foul, another for accumulating too many flagrant-foul points). pic.twitter.com/PGLfknpfj0
— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) January 12, 2022
The shaken-up Bull stepped aside, trying to regain his consciousness, and some sense of what happened. But, as soon as he looked up, all he saw was Shaquille O’Neal coming at him with a fist packed with the full force of Superman.
“So, I’m shaking my head and scratching my ear like, ‘F**k.’ And then literally, I somehow turned like this, and Shaq’s big a** rainmaker; can’t hit nobody, we know, like his free throws. It barely nicked the sh*t out of my ear and by the time I turned? F**k.”
Brad said he’d be breathing through a straw @SHAQ
New episode drops tomorrow with Brad Miller on our YouTube. pic.twitter.com/oMDOX4gelJ
— All the Smoke Productions (@allthesmokeprod) May 9, 2024
Miller further mentioned how he brought up this incident once when he got to share a locker room with Shaq during All-Star weekend. He even joked about his agent suing O’Neal and Miller getting a hefty settlement out of it.
But just as co-host, Matt Barnes brought up his doubts about Miller being physically healthy enough to receive those benefits, the former Chicago Bulls center said, “No, I would’ve been sucking through a straw…He would’ve f**ked me up.”
The entire altercation resulted in three suspensions. Shaquille O’Neal was fined $15,000 & was suspended for the next three games. Brad Miller was handed a one-game suspension, while Charles Oakley was suspended for 2 games due to the amount of flagrant fouls he had accumulated up to that point in the season.
Years after the incident, Shaquille O’Neal touched upon that night, giving his two cents on the whole ordeal and what prompted him to, not *just end Miller’s night but probably his career with that punch.
“I didn’t wanna hit him on the back, but as soon as he turns to the side, I wanted to bust his eardrums up that’s all. I wanted him to hear f****** tweety birds for the rest of his life.” – The Big Podcast With Shaq.
Luckily for Miller, Shaq wasn’t able to land that punch as cleanly as he wanted, with it just barely grazing him. Had the punch connected though, fans may have never have never gotten to see Brad Miller again.
