Baron Davis earned his stripes, and reputation, as a tough player over 12 NBA seasons. The strong two-way point guard did this despite persistent lower body injuries. His quality as a player is attested by the two All-Star selections he earned. Now, Shaquille O’Neal has put him in the list of players the Lakers star was wary of.
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That’s something else, isn’t it? It speaks volumes on how good Davis was on the hardwood.
“He was on that list too,” Shaq stated on The Big Podcast, while talking to the Charlotte Hornets star on his reluctance to defend him. His co-host, Adam Lefkoe, well aware of O’Neal’s many lists checked to confirm: “People you don’t f*** with?“
O’Neal responded, “Yep. In the game, come out of the pick-and-roll, I’ll be like I’m not going to show.”
Baron tore his ACL while he was still in college. But he still went on to have a successful career in the NBA. Despite the injury, the point guard was explosive on court; so much so that Shaq knew better than to try and keep up with him during the switches.
Instead, O’Neal delegated the task to Kobe Bryant or Derek Fisher, preferring to sit back on Davis’ screens and attempt to meet him at the rim. Seems like the strategy worked. The Big Diesel won 13 of the 17 encounters against The Baron.
This wasn’t always the case with the players O’Neal avoided on defense. Michael Jordan, who has beaten almost everyone, had the last laugh against Shaq as well.
O’Neal feared Jordan for good reason
Much like with Baron, Shaq knew better than to switch onto His Airness in the pick-and-roll. He feared MJ much more than any other player.
“I was terrified out there,” Shaq revealed about playing against MJ. “For one, he’s the greatest player. Two, I was worried about him dunking on me…The stuff that I saw when I was in college on TV was really real…Just watching him out there, I was terrified,” O’Neal once admitted on TNT.
Shaq was part of the team which beat Jordan in the playoffs between his two three-peats. But that Conference Finals loss motivated Mike to come out harder against the 7-footer. In their 21 games against each other, Mike averaged nearly 29 points, 2.5 steals and a block. He beat the Big Diesel 12 times.
Eventually, Shaq’s worst nightmare came true too. Jordan dunked on him during a game between the Orlando Magic and the Chicago Bulls. Jordan remains one of only three players to posterize the 2000 NBA MVP in his 20-year career.
