Apart from being one of the best centers to ever play in the NBA, Shaquille O’Neal is an overall nice guy. However, there are limits to how nice he is.
There are numerous stories where someone insulted or undermined Shaq and the result that followed after was nothing less than legendary. In one such instance, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got a taste of Shaq’s vengeance.
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When the Lakers took on the Clippers on the 6th of March, 2000, the crowd was in for a treat. It happened to be O’Neal’s birthday, and he had a point to prove. Kareem was the assistant coach of the Clippers back then, and he looked down whenever O’Neal got the ball.
This wasn’t taken well by Shaq. He decided to use Kareem’s signature move, the skyhook, and O’Neal obliterated the Clippers. Moreover, he revealed what fueled O’Neal in that game.
Shaq said, “Kareem was ya’ll assistant coach. Every time I touched the ball, he put his head down. I remember the one time I got the ball, I’m like, oh sh*t, Kareem looking at me. I’m ’bout to hit ’em with the sky hook and point at him. Every time I was down there, he put his head down.”
He added, “I was like, oh Kareem don’t know my name. He don’t know my name, but he gonna know it tonight. So I’m a real sensitive guy, but again, I don’t get mad, I just get even.” This just goes on to show how ruthless Shaquille O’Neal can be in order to prove his haters and doubters wrong.
Shaquille O’Neal puts on a show on his birthday
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers share a very old rivalry. Moreover, this has resulted in lots of memorable moments when the two teams faced off against each other.
When the Lakers took on the Clippers on March 6, 2000, Shaquille O’Neal took matters into his own hand. He dropped 61 points, 23 rebounds and 3 assists as the Lakers won the game 123-103. Safe to say, Shaq had a great party against the Clippers on his 28th birthday.
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What is your favorite memory of Shaquille O’Neal? Let us know in the comments down below.
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Edited by
Arunaditya Aima