Allen Iverson had played against a lot of players, but nobody gave him a run for his money like Shaquille O’Neal did. AI recalled a time when he was guarding Shaq and his life flashed in front of him. The 325lbs Big Man dunked on him in a way that left him speechless. Shaq’s counterpart, Kobe Bryant was bewildered at what AI was trying to do, asking whether he had a death wish.
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Shaquille O’Neal was ruthless in the paint. He posterized anybody who go in his way and did not care about the number of players. There are several highlights of him going up to opposing centers, dishing out punishment to them every night. Teams had to get two bodies in the paint just so that they could get him out of the paint area. Such was his dominance during his career.
Kobe Bryant’s Bewildered Reaction to Allen Iverson Jumping on Shaquille O’Neal
Allen Iverson, having faced Shaq on multiple occasions, had respect for the big man. He felt that Shaq got assaulted every night as teams could not stop him with conventional methods. He mentioned that the referees did not call every foul on the big man because of his 325lbs humungous frame.
AI then recalled a story of how he had to guard Shaq but the result was not pretty. He jumped on the Big Diesel’s back but that did not matter. Shaq dunked the ball anyway carrying AI with him. Kobe Bryant who was Shaq’s counterpart seeing this asked Iverson whether he wanted to die.
“They threw it to him and I tried to foul him, before he was going up. I remember jumping on his back and he took me up with him. I ain’t lying dawg. And Kobe looked at me and said man ‘what the hell is wrong with you, you gotta die? Are you tryna die?”
Then he recalls a story of another freak of nature, LeBron James, who charged at him full speed in transition. He said that when he tried to foul him, LeBron took his arm with him.
“LeBron was playing Cleveland, he was coming at me full speed. And I tried to foul him. Man I tried to foul him on open court. Man I am telling you man. I was standing there and he was at the basket and I thought my arm was somewhere back there where he was at.”
Shaquille O’Neal’s Response to Hack-a-Shaq Tactic
Shaquille O’Neal dominated the paint whenever he played. Unable to stop him with conventional methods, coaches would resort to fouling him to put him on the free-throw line. Given Shaq’s abysmal shooting, they thought of stopping him by fouling him early. But the Big Diesel was unbothered by it and had a very competitive response to such tactics.
“The Hack-A-Shaq is just a way of telling me that you can’t stop me. Thank you. I appreciate it.”
This goes to show how dominant Shaq was in his career. Dishing out punishment every night and getting the job done. Shaq made sure to make opponents quiver at his sight. With the kind of physicality he brought to the table, Shaq is deserving of the title of ‘Most Dominant NBA Player of All Time’.
