Jerry West aka Mr. Logo grabbed Shaquille O’Neal for destroying a bathroom, Michael Jordan changed his life with an advice
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Shaquille O’Neal may be one of the most successful centers in NBA history, but there was a time when he struggled with failure too.
The Big Aristotle spent much of his first 7 seasons chasing a championship. His dominance and skillset, though unparalleled, always fell short in the playoffs.
Until 99-00, O’Neal had made six playoffs appearances, three each with Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers. Even someone as gifted and dominant as Shaq was helpless against better teams.
The Bulls were the epitome of team basketball in the 90s and though they had Michael Jordan, he wasn’t the only driving force of that squad.
Phil Jackson instilled in Michael Jordan and co. the importance of relying on every piece and trusting the process. For Shaq, his unstoppable strength and skills were redundant when faced with perfectly functioning teams.
The 1996 Conference Finals proved exactly this. When the Jordan-led Bulls found Orlando Magic waiting for them in the ECF.
What happened in that series effectively ended Shaquille’s time in Orlando. The 4-0 sweep was too much for Diesel and he moved to LA and began his career with the Lakers.
Shaquille O’Neal revealed that Michael Jordan approached him after that tragic sweep with advice
In that series against Chicago, O’Neal averaged 27 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 1.5 steals. He also made an unbelievable 64% field goals in that series.
The sweep despite his fearsome performance left a deep impact on O’Neal. Not because he felt hopeless but because Jordan gave him advice that taught Shaquille O’Neal how to cope with failure.
In an interview, O’Neal revealed Jordan’s advice.
Shaq: “So we used to get swept all the time and most of the blowback came on me, which I was fine with it, but just you know, at some point I got tired of hearing it because Michael Jordan told me after they swept us, ‘before you succeed, you must first learn to fail.’ And I just got tired of failing.”
Jordan’s words of wisdom were bang on but O’Neal took them into consideration only after getting swept by the San Antonio Spurs.
In 1999, after the fourth game loss to Spurs in the Eastern Conference Finals, Shaq’s rage was at its peak.
The furious giant took it all out on a poor unsuspecting bathroom. In the interview, O’Neal also shed light on how Jerry West calmed him down.
O’Neal: “So one time we got swept by the Spurs. And I went in the bathroom and I ripped up all the toilets, all the urinals. There was shit flying everywhere and Jerry West came in there and he grabbed me and he was strong as hell too and he put me up against the wall and said calm down. I’m like ‘I’m tired of losing.’ He’s like ‘you gonna get it done. I went to the Finals 8 times in a row before I won and lost.’ And I felt like my soul just left my body.”
After Shaq settled down, he claimed to feel better. Perhaps that’s when he finally remembered MJ’s advice and truly understood it. He later went on to win 4 championships in his career.
Also read: LaMelo Ball had absolutely no respect for Trae Young and the Hawks when he met them – The SportsRush
