Shaquille O’Neal is easily one of the most dominant players in NBA history. He was an unstoppable force that took the league by storm.
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With a 19-year career in the NBA, Diesel frightened many an opponent. Having averaged 24 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks per game, there were very few centers who could claim they stopped the big man.
However, on rare occasions, some centers were up to the task, like Greg Ostertag, the man who sent Shaq to the golf course while he played in the Western Conference Finals.
Greg Ostertag couldn’t stop boasting after defeating Shaquille O’Neal
Shaquille O’Neal wanted to make history in the 1997 NBA Playoffs. Having just signed for the Lakers, the big man was determined to reach the Finals.
However, the Utah Jazz stood in his way. Shaq faced the Jazz in the Western Conference semifinals, where he was defeated after making little to no impact. At the time, he was being guarded by Greg Ostertag, who was so proud of stopping the big man, that he could not contain his boastfulness.
It was humiliating for Shaq, who, as revealed in the book Three-Ring Circus kept replaying Ostertag’s comments in his head.
“Throughout the summer, O’Neal replayed the Utah games in his mind. More than that, he replayed Ostertag’a mannerisms and boastfulness in his mind. When the Jazz won, the center through O’Neal’s prism—behaved like a conquering hero. He was the Shaq slayer. The man who derailed Shaq Diesel. ‘Nobody thinks I’ve done anything all year, especially Shaq,’ Ostertag said after the series triumph. ‘But I guess that’a why he’s playing golf right now and I’m in the Western Conference finals.'”
Greg Ostertag once blocked Shaq 9 times in a single game😲 pic.twitter.com/UNPXVwQ41K
— Jazz Nation (@JazzNationCP) August 21, 2022
Talk about bold statements from Ostertag. Although, he paid the price in the preseason.
Shaq got his revenge on Greg Ostertag by slapping him during a preseason game
Shaquille O’Neal isn’t one to forgive and forget. Greg Ostertag learned that the hard way when Shaq got revenge for all his boastfulness. How? By slapping him in the face during a preseason game.
Karl Malone just told a hilarious 1998 story on how Shaq “f*cked up Greg Ostertag for the rest of his life” when he slapped the contacts off his face after shoot around. 😂
(Via: NBA Inside Stuff 90s Reunion) pic.twitter.com/DVtHTesJzG
— Timeless Sports (@timelesssports_) May 18, 2020
That certainly was the last time Greg Ostertag talked trash about Shaq. After all, who in their right mind would want to get slapped by the 324-pound big man?