Shaquille O’Neal: I don’t know if you heard this story, but in 1992, I think with the draft, was it in June or something? I meet Mr. David Stern in March and he says to me, “Hey, can’t wait for you to come to the NBA.” Then he pulls me to his side and asked me ‘You want to play where it’s cold or where it’s hot?’ He asked me that. Yeah, he did. He asked me that and I was like, “Hot!” And he smiled and I smiled and then couple days later they had the draft thing and the top three things and then Minnesota was number three, then Charlotte was number two and then Orlando, Florida was number one. I was like I didn’t think anything about it. But you hear a lot of these conspiracy theories and know there’s a lot of situations that could make these things sound good and sound true like ‘okay Dallas gets rid of a one of the one of the best players but oh! we we’re getting a new one.’ Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. So I don’t want to use the word conspiracy theory but it’s very interesting how it all played out.
Source: YouTube
Source: YouTube
More on this storyline
Shaquille O’Neal on Michael Jordan joining NBC: First of all, if anybody says Michael Jordan is hating, you’re an idiot. This man is the only man on earth with G19 classification. G19, higher than the president of the United States classification. Like, of course, there’s a president, but this guy is a guy that can go behind the doors and get sh*t done. So, if Jordan says, “I don’t think this guy is good.” You’re not that f*cking good. I don’t care how many points you’re averaging. If Jordan says he you should do this, you should do it. Like, a lot of times instead of being into your feelings, just listen to what the greatest player who’s ever played the game has to say. I would love to be playing right now in the drill. Yeah. Like Shaq tries to go to the middle. Maybe he should use finesse game. You know what I’m going to do when I hear that sh*t? I’m going to go home and practice all my finesse game. And then the next game I’m going to be trying to show Mike that, ‘hey, Mr. Jordan, I have finesse in my game, too.’ -via YouTube / May 19, 2025
Always! The last truly close MVP race was all the way back in 2005, when Steve Nash nabbed 65 first-place votes and an 84% vote share to Shaquille O’Neal’s 58 first-place nods and 81% vote share.1 Since then, it’s been a bloodbath. -via Basketball Poetry / May 16, 2025
But in today’s NBA? Stretch fives, pick-and-pop action, and centers who can initiate the break off a rebound are the new normal. “New era, new generation,” Shaq continued. “I can’t tell them how to play, I can’t tell them what to do. I can give them hints every now and then on how to make the game easier. Look, I was the first big guy to take it coast to coast and do all that, but the game was easier to take the high percentage shots. Imagine me trying to do that in the Finals. Bringing the ball up. We wouldn’t win. So you know, when you’re a big guy, you have to use your abilities to get highest percentage shots for you to win. The team that shoots the highest percentage from the free throw line, or field goal percentage from the 3, is that team that always wins. Analytics or not. That’s the facts.” -via ScoopB.com / May 8, 2025