Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most dominant players in NBA history. Towering at 7ft 1” and weighing more than 325 pounds for the larger part of his career, the Big Aristotle earned his bread and butter by asserting command over the paint. Throughout his illustrious 19-year career, Shaq recorded more than 2600 dunks and one of those O’Neal dunks is often regarded as the most vicious dunk in NBA history.
Advertisement
Back in 1999, during the Los Angeles Lakers-New York Knicks, Shaquille O’Neal received the ball down in the post. O’Neal slowly sized up on Chris Dudley before slamming down a monstrous dunk. Just as he was landing down, the Lakers big man shoved Dudley. In frustration, the latter threw the game ball towards Shaq.
Both the centers were reprimanded for their actions. O’Neal was slapped with a technical foul whereas, the New York Knicks player was tossed out of the game for his misdemeanour.
Years later, the four-time NBA champion was asked if there was any reason behind him destroying Dudley. Being extremely candid, the Hall-Of-Famer explained how he felt disrespected that he didn’t witness anyone helping Dudley.
“Because when I got the ball, and I’m looking, you mother**kers aren’t doubling. I take that as a sign of disrespect. You better double triple me. I take it as a sign of disrespect,” Shaq said.
Shaquille O’Neal completely outplayed his opponent to lead the LA side to a win. While he finished the night with a 21-point, 9-rebound performance, Chris Dudley was ejected after 21 minutes, having recorded only 2 points and 5 rebounds.
Shaq was a beast in the paint. In the majority of cases, Shaq was seen double and even triple-teamed. On the one-off moments like this one, if he wasn’t sent to the charity stripe, O’Neal took full advantage.
Shaquille O’Neal was furious that Dwight Howard was stealing his “Superman” moniker
During the final few years of Shaquille O’Neal’s career, Dwight Howard had established himself as the most dominant center in the league. Apart from the fact that Howard was raved for being the best in the league, Shaq also took offense to the fact that the Orlando Magic star was stealing his “Superman” moniker.
“If want to bang and push, let’s bang and push. You’re all giving away [Superman] titles, it’s crazy,” Shaq said.
He also took pride in the fact that he never had to ask for help when going up against the best of the best.
“Don’t let them double-team me and make it a him versus me thing,” O’Neal said. “Been doing it 18 years straight. Hakeem, Ewing, Rik Smits, [Tim] Duncan, [David] Robinson, the best of the best, straight up. I never doubled nobody. Nor have I ever asked for a double-team.”
There is merit in Shaq’s comments. He might not have won the Defensive Player of the Year award ever, but O’Neal was a three-time All-Defensive player who could be a threat to some of the best offensive talents in the league. Throughout his career, Shaquille O’Neal has managed to successfully guard the legends that he has mentioned on numerous occasions.
