Reflecting on “Emergence of Shaquille O’Neal” With $1.85 Billion Franchise, 63YO NBA Veteran Remembers Bitter Playoffs Defeat

When he first arrived in the league, Shaquille O’Neal was not yet a championship-winning force. But he was a formidable opponent to face off, since he was a rookie with Orlando Magic. Very few people get to boast that they molded O’Neal into the NBA legend he is today. One of them is the ‘Human Highlight Film.’ The veteran was on the way out when O’Neal was emerging as the next big thing in the NBA. Towards the end of his NBA career, he was up against O’Neal on the court and it just made his last few NBA games more thrilling.

Dominique Wilkins spent only one season with the Boston Celtics, a franchise that has had many legends on its roster. Though his Celtics phase didn’t end very well, he still looks back on it graciously because of Shaq.

Dominique Wilkins relives the emergence of ‘Big Diesel’

NBA history is not complete without the mention of Dominique Wilkins, one of the most iconic slam-dunkers to ever exist. After starting his career in 1982, he played the 1994-95 season with the Boston Celtics. He was a veteran on the second incarnation of the Dream Team that he led to gold at the 1994 World Championships.

At 35, his experience gave him a notch above the younger talent entering the league. He was the factor that led the Celtics to the playoffs that season. He has the honor of scoring the Celtics final point at the old Boston Garden in Game 4 that season before it closed in 1995.

But the Celtics lost that Game 4 and the playoffs to Orlando Magic. Despite his experience, Wilkins couldn’t overcome Magic’s monster rookie, Shaquille O’Neal.

Wilkins looked back on his time with the Celtics on VladTV recently. Though the team lost in the final Boston Garden game, he was full of praise for the opponents that defeated him.

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“We had them too,” Wilkins prefaced before adding the reason they lost to Magic. “They were a young team. They had Penny Hardaway, they had Shaquille O’Neal, and guys like that on the team.”

Shaquille O’Neal and Wilkins’ careers come full circle

During his playing career, Wilkins was the highlight of the slam dunk contest. His contest with Michael Jordan remains the most thrilling in the history of the league. But his acrobatic dunking skills couldn’t overpower O’Neal and Magic.

“They were a good young team and we had some missing pieces,” Wilkins confessed on VladTV. “That was the emergence of Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway.” He’d go on to praise Shaq, who he mentored during his initial career, as a tough opponent and an even better multi-tasker after retirement.

The LSU alum started his career with Magic in 1992 and was with them till the Lakers snatched him in 1996. Four championships and three more teams later, O’Neal would play one season with the Celtics, the team he defeated two decades ago, before retiring in 2011.

Interestingly, Wilkins played his final NBA season with Orlando Magic in 1999 after international stints. He averaged 5 points per game in 27 games before calling it a day. What are your thoughts on this parallel?

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