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“Shaquille O’Neal Cooked Michael Jordan One-On-One”: When The Two NBA Legends Went Head To Head In An Epic Duel Before The NBA All Star Game

Ashish Priyadarshi
Published

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal were two of the most dominant players during their time, so you can imagine how entertaining a one-on-one between the two would have been.

The two stars dominated the NBA from 1990 to about 2003. Of course, as you all know, Jordan won six NBA titles between 1991 and 1998, playing himself to the top of the NBA world after a rocky start to his NBA career (in terms of winning).

Shaq would see success after Jordan’s era, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a three-peat between 2000 and 2002. Shaq and Jordan matched up a few times in the NBA, but none of those matchups can quite match the entertainment when the two legends went one on one with each other.

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Shaquille O’Neal Supposedly Tricked Michael Jordan During The One On One

Playing one on one with Shaq seems like a nightmare. How do you account for his size, skill, and ferocity? It doesn’t matter if you’re Michael Jordan or anyone else, Shaq could dominate against anyone.

However, ahead of the 1996 NBA All Star game, the two still decided to butt heads with each other and engage in a friendly one on one.

Shaq had the NBA goat fooled, however. Using a savvy spin move, Shaq got away from Jordan’s defensive stronghold, and took it hard to the basket for an easy layup.

You can see the one on one here:

Of course, things remained friendly between the two after, and there was no bad blood ever. Jordan and Shaq would match up a couple of times in the NBA playoffs during their time in the league together.

The first time came in 1995 when Jordan came back from his first retirement. Shaking off the rust, Jordan and the Bulls couldn’t get it going against Penny Hardaway and Shaq and would fall in six games.

However, Jordan would have his revenge the very next year as the Bulls would sweep Shaq and Penny’s Orlando Magic en-route to an NBA title, capping off a 72-10 season (best in NBA history at the time), starting their second three-peat with MJ.

Also Read: “If you don’t like Derrick Rose, something is wrong with you”: Dwyane Wade Has Harsh Words For Critics Of Former Bull And Chicago Native

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi

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Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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