Playing basketball during the ’90s usually meant that people grew up idolizing Michael Jordan. However, Shaquille O’Neal was no exception. By the time he got drafted into the NBA, Jordan had established himself as the best player in the world. “He was like a God to me,” Shaq shared, adding how he had posters of the Bulls guard in his room before entering the league.
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During his latest appearance on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’, Big Diesel touched on the nerves he felt lacing up against Jordan in the NBA. “I was terrified being out there with Michael Jordan the first time,” the 7-footer explained.
Fallon pulled out an image of Shaq defending Jordan from their first game against each other. “But on that play right there, I blocked his shot and I fouled him,” Big Diesel recalled. Naturally, MJ wasn’t going to accept any apologies from his opponent on the court.
“Michael Jordan taught me something very important. I fouled him, I was like, ‘Oh, Mr. Jordan, I’m sorry about that’… He said, ‘Shaq, hard foul, I love it. Don’t ever help anybody up’,” Shaq shared.
After all, Mike was a fierce competitor. MJ had overcome the brutality of the Bad Boy Pistons before O’Neal even joined the league. He may have commended Shaq because he stopped Jordan from dunking on him, albeit through a foul. His Airness recognized the young one’s desire to win and ordered him to stand his ground against his opponents.
Shaq faced MJ 20 more times during his career and even bagged nine wins against him. But Shaq needed that play to look at MJ as a human being, and not as ‘Black Jesus’. He previously admitted to being terrified in the lead-up to his first matchup with the legendary #23.
Shaq did not want to become a MJ poster
As somebody who grew up with the iconic images from MJ’s career, Shaq knew what it looked like to be on the receiving end of Jordan’s jams. And he didn’t want that stain on his legacy. It was part of what unnerved him before his first matchup against Michael Jordan.
“I was terrified out there… The whole game. One, he’s the greatest player. Two, I was worried about him dunking on me and I have to go back and you know, face the fellas,” O’Neal revealed during a TNT segment. Unfortunately, the poster was unavoidable.
During his time in Orlando, Shaq eventually got dunked on by ‘Black Jesus’. However, the 7-footer ensured that MJ remained one of only three players to dunk on him throughout his 20-year career, adding yet another accolade to the six-time NBA champion’s name.
