Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most dominant big men the NBA ever saw. The LA Lakers legend’s size and unique skillset meant that he was impossible to stop for most defenders. While O’Neal rarely got dunked on, he was left utterly embarrassed during a game against New Jersey Nets. The 7 ft 1-inch center had both of his parents in attendance in a game against the New Jersey Nets.
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During one play, O’Neal got dunked on by former Nets forward Derrick Coleman. During an interview on NBA’s OpenCourt back in 2012, O’Neal revealed that he was left with a “tear in his eye” after the dunk.
Shaquille O’Neal’s most embarrassing NBA moment came in front of his parents
The OpenCourt episode saw multiple former players discuss some of their most embarrassing moments. This included the likes of Reggie Miller and Ernie Johnson.
When it came to Shaquille, he spoke about an incident involving Derrick Coleman and the New Jersey Nets. With both of his parents in attendance, O’Neal was brutally dunked on by Coleman.
The Lakers legend claimed that he didn’t even realize that he had been dunked on until a few seconds later. Shaq hilariously revealed how he had a tear in his eye after he looked at his mother:
“I always took pride in being a big man that never got dunked on. One time in New Jersey, I’m from Newark, in front of all the fans playing against Derrick Coleman. If you don’t know Derrick Coleman, he’s left-handed, and he’s a beast. Derrick has me on the block. He takes one dribble, two dribbles, drop step and give me a little elbow and dunked it. I didn’t know he dunked it until it came down and the ball hit me in the face. I looked up, at my mom, and I had a tear in my eyes.”
Shaquille O’Neal was the most dominant player in the modern NBA
During his illustrious career, Shaquille O’Neal came against a plethora of big men he dominated consistently. This included the likes of Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Yao Ming.
O’Neal’s physicality and sheer force, as well as defensive tenacity meant that he could physically hurt opponents on his way to winning games. His combination of size, strength, and athleticism meant that only a few players could match him.
This included Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets’ legend who came up against O’Neal in the second half of his career. While O’Neal was still a different beast, he himself admitted that if not for injuries, Ming could have been a top-5 center owing to his agility and basketball IQ.
