Shaquille O’Neal was the most dominant force in the NBA for a long time because of his physical traits and unmatched power. Even when opponents tried to defend him, he would overpower them with his skill and strength. Shaq was such a dominant force that opponents would try to talk trash to throw him off his game. Unfortunately for those players, O’Neal became even better when they did that because he loved that kind of energy.
“ I’m the type of guy that when I get mad, I get more dominant. I guess most players, when they get mad, they get taken out of the game,” Shaq said in an interview with Chick Hearn in 1993. “ When I get mad, I get real dominant. I just say to myself, ‘Okay these guys think you can’t play, show them what you got.’ I’ll just get more dominant.”
Shaq had a target on his back when he entered the league
When O’Neal got drafted into the NBA, he was the number one overall pick, which meant he had massive expectations to meet. Shaq had no problem doing that because he stood out from the jump. In his first NBA game, he would put up a stat line of 12 points, 18 rebounds, and three blocks against the Miami Heat.
That impressive debut performance made Shaq a compelling player because he took charge of the situation from the jump. He had to perform under the pressure of being the #1 overall pick and a dominant college player.
Shaq was also a loudmouth who loved to talk trash and have fun on the court. It irked some players during the early 1990s, making him the priority target. That meant he received trash talk and physical fouls, but he did not mind.
O’Neal kept stoking the fire, and players realized they could not rattle Shaq because he would keep improving every time he was the butt of the joke. The Diesel kept stepping up and proving himself as the league’s most promising center.
Shaq knew how to take it and dish it out
Since Shaq was also a prominent trash-talker, he had no issues with opponents trying to rattle him. He knew what he had to do to shut his opponents up by out-performing them on the court. Even as a rookie , he had plenty of tough matchups, but he was willing to talk trash matchups with the best centers during that era..
O’Neal became the best center in the league by proving everyone wrong. He was a dominant force with his offense but also a strong rebounder and defender. Shaq even became a leader, bucking the criticism that he was an immature player.
The Big Aristotle faced trash-talkers all the time, but he was always willing to take them on. That made Shaq compelling because he was always up for the battle, taking everyone head-on without many issues. O’Neal kept playing with this energy, becoming one of the all-time great centers.
Related: Shaquille O'Neal revealed he would engage in trash-talking with everyone except Michael Jordan-"You gotta stay away from Mike”
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