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ORLANDO, FL – 1993: Shaquille O’Neal #32 of the Orlando Magic poses with Michael Jordan #23 of the Chicago Bulls prior to playing an NBA game circ 1993 at the TD WAterhouse Centre in Orlando, Florida. Copyright 1993 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
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ORLANDO, FL – 1993: Shaquille O’Neal #32 of the Orlando Magic poses with Michael Jordan #23 of the Chicago Bulls prior to playing an NBA game circ 1993 at the TD WAterhouse Centre in Orlando, Florida. Copyright 1993 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Orlando Magic drafted Shaquille O’Neal in 1992. This was right after the Chicago Bulls won their first NBA championship. So from the very onset of his NBA career, Shaquille witnessed the prime years of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
Subsequently, Shaquille O’Neal has often expressed that he feels Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player. So when Pippen who was on Jordan’s team during the dynasty run made some surprising comments about Jordan, Shaq did not hesitate to express his subtle disapproval.
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Shaquille O’Neal subtly roasts Pippen over surprising Jordan comments
Shaquille O’Neal took to Instagram and shared a story with a hilarious fan-made video. This post was a compilation of videos reacting to Scottie Pippen’s comments. Most of which were direct disapproval and hilarious reaction to his statement. The video has comments like “Don’t. Don’t say that.” and “Shut the f**k up” and “I need to stop smoking that sh*t”.
Since Shaq shared this post, it is safe to assume he agrees with it even now that Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were not on the same level. Since we know Shaq for often messing around with people, maybe he’s just pulling Pippen’s leg. Nevertheless, it seems clear what Shaquille O’Neal feels about Pippen’s comments.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 09: Shaquille O’Neal attends the WBC heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder at T-Mobile Arena on October 09, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
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Would Michael Jordan still have his rings without Scottie Pippen?
Jordan had previously agreed that Scottie Pippen was the best teammate he ever had. And in a team sport like basketball, when a player is as good as Michael Jordan, he’s bound to have all the defense’s attention. Therefore Pippen played a crucial role as the reliable second option of the offense who was always a brilliant defender.
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NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 06: Shaquille O’Neal attends AOL Build to discuss his collaboration with Toys For Tots at AOL HQ on December 6, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage)
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Hence, it can be said that Jordan may have what it takes to win a ring without Pippen. However, he would definitely not have as many he currently does without him. Do you agree? Let us know what you think about it.
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