Yet another great, funny, telling story is out… all about our man Shaq back in his playing days with the Lakers. It’s from “The OG’s Podcast,” and featured former player Mike Miller.
A bit of history: Miller played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after being selected by the Orlando Magic in the first round of the 2000 NBA draft with the fifth overall pick. Interesting and cool, since – as we all know – Shaq was selected with the Number One pick in the 1992 Draft by the very same Magic team. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year with the Magic in 2001 and was voted NBA Sixth Man of the Year with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2006. He would go on to win two consecutive NBA championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013.
When it comes to dominant players – unstoppable guys who ruled the hardwood – Shaq is always in the very short list to top guys…if not the consensus number one. O’Neal played 19 seasons in the NBA, including eight legendary campaigns with the Lakers. During his Hall of Fame career, he made a habit out of imposing his will upon full lineups, let alone individual defenders, with an unstoppable approach to scoring.
So with that backdrop, back to the OG Podcast. When it came to domination, Miller said yeah, Shaq was the man: “Shaquille O’Neal, the most dominant big I’ve ever seen. We had a defense for him, like we had the defense for him, and there was still nothing you could do with it. There was nothing you could do with the Big Fella, that’s it. He didn’t even know he got fouled! Half the time he didn’t know! I hit him so hard one time my arm hurt and I was like, ’Damn, my bad Big Fella.’ And he goes: ‘Did you hit me?’ And I’m like, ‘Come on man, get your a** out of here, you hurt my feelings.”
Mike Miller In Playing Days with the Miami Heat
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Miller’s story of trying to defend against Shaq would no doubt be echoed by just about any other player who faced him in the paint. Guys who absolutely wanted to foul O’Neal usually ended up on the wrong side of the pain.
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Even in his later years of playing, O’Neal utilized his vastly underrated skill set to thrive as a post scorer and passer, and still deterred slashers from attacking the paint when he was on defense. Students of Shaq-history know it all: Four championships, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, and an NBA MVP award. He was a 14-time All-NBA honoree, including eight First Team nods, and three All-Defense team selections.