SUMMARY
- Shaquille O'Neal thought Michael Jordan was like God during their first ever matchup.
- Shaq shook off his feelings of admiration and soon viewed Jordan as a rival.
Shaquille O’Neal recently revealed the experience and emotions he felt when playing against Michael Jordan. As most NBA fans should be aware, O’Neal is an NBA legend and widely considered the most dominant and unstoppable force in the history of the league. He won 3 NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and 1 with the Miami Heat.
Almost all members of the NBA community know about Michael Jordan. The Chicago Bulls legend is still widely considered as the greatest player in NBA history. During a recent episode of his podcast, Shaq discussed the atmosphere when he first went up against Michael Jordan to JJ Reddick. Now that the context has been provided, let us take a closer look and find out what O’Neal had to say.
Shaquille O’Neal was mesmerized by Michael Jordan’s talent and ability
To those who might not know, Shaquille O’Neal entered the NBA as the first pick of the 1992 NBA Draft. He was selected by the Orlando Magic and instantly transformed the team due to his innate ability. At the time, Jordan was at the peak of his NBA career and had won 2 championships.
On the Big Podcast with Shaq, the 4x NBA champion told JJ Reddick that Jordan had an otherworldly presence. As a result, Shaq even viewed him as a heavenly figure and compared him to God. Although this could be considered an exaggeration, O’Neal also revealed how the first clash between the two of them made him realize that MJ was quite special.
“I don’t know what God looks like but it’s like seeing God because I went to a couple of NBA games as a youngster so wasn’t really impressed with San Antonio watching David Robinson. David Robinson impressed me a little bit but the stuff that he(Jordan) did on TV and then you see it in real life. It’s like oh my god it’s really real…”
Shaq continued, “He came at me one of the first plays of the game, and in my mind I’m like I’m not getting fu*kin dunked on so I tried to meet him early. He slid by me I bumped him and he still did that sh*t and he laid it up off the glass and the crowd went crazy and I’m like like this guy is real.”One can only imagine how Shaq felt after watching Michael Jordan effortlessly score on him. While many other young NBA stars at the time may have shrunk from the occasion, MJ’s ability and skill inadvertently gave Shaq confidence to transform and stop viewing Jordan as an admirer.
Shaq also viewed Jordan as a rival
Any player who makes it to the NBA might be caught up in the moment when playing against the legends that they idolized as children. While Shaq may have been feeling the same deep inside, he was also eager to catch up to players such as Jordan and relished the opportunity to play against him.
It might surprise some fans to hear that Shaquille O’Neal even managed to eliminate Michael Jordan from the playoffs in 1995. However, O’Neal and the Orlando Magic lost in the NBA Finals that season. Despite having defeated Jordan in a 7 game series, Shaq continued to have immense respect for the Chicago Bulls legend and still does many years after retiring from the NBA.