The groundwork for Shaquille O’Neal‘s three straight NBA Finals victories from 2000 to 2002 was laid years before. During his stint with the Orlando Magic, Shaq had a great chance to win a title even before going to the Lakers. In the 1995 payoffs, he led the Magic to beat the Boston Celtics in the first round, Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the second round, and the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, when the Big Aristotle and his team faced Hakeem Olajuwon in the NBA Finals, the story went in a completely different direction. Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets swept the Magic in the 95 NBA Finals. Speaking about the series against Hakeem on the All The Smoke podcast, Shaq admitted that it was his fault that his team lost the series.
Advertisement
The 1995 postseason witnessed Michael Jordan’s decorated return to the Bulls after one and half years of break. Netflix’s 2020 documentary “The Last Dance” goes into detail about Jordan being out of game shape, which cost the Bulls the season and their series against Orlando. The Magic were, in fact, the last team to eliminate MJ from the playoffs. However, beating the mighty Michael Jordan and the three-peat Chicago Bulls got into Shaq’s head and made him celebrate early.
Shaquille O’Neal took responsibility for the 1995 NBA Finals loss
The 1995 NBA Finals were a testament to Olajuwon’s greatness on the basketball court. The big man, who invented the ‘Dream Shake’, made his mark in the Finals and swept O’Neal and the Magic. While Shaq was on the All the Smoke podcast two years ago, co-host Matt Barnes asked the Lakers legend about the Finals loss in 1995. “1995 Finals run, you shut the Boston Garden down, beat the Bulls, Pacers battle and then you run into Hakeem and then in the Finals.” “That was my fault we lost,” replied Shaq. He explained the behind-the-scene scenario of the Magic-Rockets Finals:
“Because as a leader I didn’t lead. After we beat the Bulls, I let up. We beat [Michael Jordan], we straight. We didn’t play in Houston before. I think it was one-on-one [in the regular season]. Hakeem is gonna get 30, I am gonna get 27, and off the record, we had eight days off. Me and D-Scott[Dennis Scott] were doing stuff we weren’t supposed to be doing. They had like a little parade and we were just celebrating. So it taught me never celebrate too early.”
Though Shaq didn’t have a roster of the Rockets’ caliber (Olajuwon had Clyde Drexler, Kenny Smith, and Sam Cassell), getting swept was never in question. In the Finals, Hakeem averaged 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2 blocks. On the other hand, Shaq averaged 28 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks.
The humiliating loss in the Finals motivated Shaq to go big the next time he’s in the Finals. Therefore, the Diesel scored all-time numbers in the Lakers’ three-peat from 2000 to 2002, bagging all the three Finals MVPs.
The 1995 Finals loss changed Shaq
The 95 NBA Finals loss had a deeper effect on O’Neal. Recalling the humiliation, Shaq admitted that he might have shown too much respect to Hakeem during his Finals face-off. This is what he said;
“That’s why I said to myself, “If I ever get back to the Finals, I don’t give a – who I’m playing—they gon’ die.” No more nice or respect and all of that. I didn’t follow my own rules, I actually showed him[Hakeem] too much respect. He was averaging 31 [points] and I was averaging 28, but we got swept, so he owns the title of “‘He dogged you out.””
Shaq even admitted that Hakeem had him mentally. According to his account, Dream never responded to his trash talk, which also irritated the four-time NBA Champion.
