The dominance of Shaquille O’Neal for close to two decades changed the NBA landscape forever. Thanks to his youngest son, Shaqir, the world got to revisit the early years of this dominance. The 21-year-old recently took to Instagram to share a video of his father showcasing his prowess against the 1996 Team USA roster, catching the attention of fans everywhere.
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The initial clip from a fan account, named Old School Hoops, captured a young Shaq being lethal from mid and long-range in one-on-one plays. Highlighting this dominance in practice, the NBA supporter added, “Shaq torching all of USABMNT in 1996 practice”. This caught the eyes of Shaqir who subsequently shared this video from his Instagram story to boast his father’s skills.
Shaqir found footage of dad Shaq bullying Team USA stars pic.twitter.com/gyPJSuosEw
— What are (W)NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) July 21, 2024
The footage showcased the critical aspects of Shaq’s gameplay. Instead of relying solely on his size, the 15x All-Star displayed remarkable footwork and ball-handling skills to dominate his matchups. His flawless jump shots also challenged the doubt around his supposed lack of shooting ability.
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During that session, Shaquille went up against a few of the greatest NBA defenders. Initially, he squared off against the 6’8″ Scottie Pippen, who struggled to keep pace with The Diesel. Soon, Shaq extended this dominance on Gary Payton while flaunting his exceptional scoring range.
On the one hand, the matchups between these three all-time greats were arguably more captivating than many basketball games. On the other hand, the rarity of footage from the star-studded 1996 Team USA roster, known as Dream Team III, added to its allure.
With Hall of Famers like Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, and Hakeem Olajuwon, this team was the favorite to win the competition. However, the spotlight was firmly on a young Shaq. Moments like these only justified the attention he received.
To everyone’s delight, Diesel was able to carry this form into the 1996 Summer Olympics. His 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game were instrumental in securing eight straight wins. Averaging 62% from the field, he helped the team retain its gold medal.
