The Internet is filled with Shaquille O’Neal dunk montages, where he can be seen wreaking havoc on both the rim and the opposition defenders. However, Shaq’s most infamous and disrespectful dunk came in 1999 in a game against the New York Knicks. He posted up against Knicks’ 6’11” Center Chris Dudley on the low block and then after a drop-step move, proceeded to stamp a two-hand monster slam on him. After completing the jam, Shaq pushed Dudley out-of-bounds to complete the humiliating slam. The four-time NBA Champion recently revealed that the infamous move was prompted by a Pat Riley strategy.
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The embarrassing dunk annoyed Dudley to his wit’s end. As Shaq was retreating, the Knicks center threw the ball at him in a fit of rage. During a recent appearance on The Old Man and the Three podcast with JJ Redick, Shaq dissected the details of what the host termed as “one of the most disrespectful dunks” ever.
Shaq revealed that he took offense to the fact that the then Knicks Head Coach Pat Riley didn’t call for a double-team on him during the game. The 52-year-old recalled how he used to get rouged up all the time during practice games against his cousins and senior hoopers in the neighborhood growing up. As someone who had always dealt with relentless contact from multiple people, Shaq wasn’t really intimidated by Pat Riley’s intimidation tricks on the court.
Thus, when Coach Riley refused to blitz him, Shaq took it as “disrespect”. Therefore, he wanted to prove a point with the dunk.
“I think he[Chris Dudley] was playing for Pat Riley at that time. I just hated the whole ‘Oh, we’re gonna intimidate you.’ Bro, I used to get beat up every day…I used to get fu**ed as hell, that little sh** y’all doing is not even 1% of the a**-whoopings I was taking growing up and being disciplined. When y’all don’t double me, I take it as a sign of disrespect,” Shaq told JJ Redick.
Thus, Shaq was offended that Riley underestimated him. 5 years after despising coach Riley’s methods, the big man was poetically traded to the Miami Heat in 2004. As expected, the two conflicting personalities didn’t see eye-to-eye on many occasions.
Shaquille O’Neal didn’t want to adopt Pat Riley’s fat-reduction regimen
Riley was a strict Head Coach, who didn’t allow his players to be out of shape. As the proponent of the famous ‘Heat Culture’, the 3x Coach of the Year ensured that his squad remains disciplined. Thus, he used to set up a strict body fat control routine that Heat players had to adhere to.
This strict program was a nightmare for Shaquille O’Neal, who didn’t want to spend the whole day in the gym. In his 2011 book Shaq Uncut, the 3x Finals MVP lamented having to work out all day and relayed the position-wise body-fat percentage goals of the legendary coach.
“Pat was all hung up on this body fat program. He was very serious about it. He expected all the guards to have 6 percent body fat, the forwards to have 7 to 8 percent body fat, and the centers to have 10 percent body fat,” O’Neal narrated in Shaq Uncut.
While this approach helped Shaq become nimble and light-footed, it also took away some of his intimidation factor. The Heat did win a championship in 2006, but later in his career, O’Neal had a ton of injury troubles. While the big fella later argued that Riley’s regimen increased the volume of major injuries, it is unclear if his bulkier frame could have helped him stay injury-free till the end of his career.
