A whole generation of NBA pros are lucky they didn’t face off against the force on the court that was?Shaquille O?Neal. One retired pro has experienced the full extent of the 7’1″ giant’s energy on the court. Let’s just say he’s counting the lucky stars he lived to tell the tale. This Boston Celtics legend was nothing short of a dominating presence himself on the court. But only someone like ‘Big Aristotle’ could make him tremble.
Kevin Garnett is still the notorious trash-talker he was during his NBA playing days. If there was someone who can silence him, it was Shaq. To this day, KG is still standing at attention and awestruck by the Lakers star.
KG salutes the ‘Diesel’
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Kevin Garnett has time and again expressed his immense admiration for Shaquille O’Neal. They’ve had several matchups against each other during their respective careers. And Garnett has experience getting whooped by the sheer force of ‘Big Diesel.’
KG wanted to draw attention to O’Neal’s dominant play and shared a Reel on his Instagram Stories to do it. The original post is a highlight of Shaq’s evolution as an indomitable center, especially when he was playing with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Reel was captioned, “Shaq = F*ckin Ridiculous. Agree or Disagree. As time goes on Shaq’s highlights have gotten more ridiculous in hindsight.”
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Fans in the comments also agreed. While many NBA players argue whether O’Neal is the best center in NBA history, they agree he is in a league of his own. He had an impact on the court, even if that impact was making his opponents’ lives very difficult.
Garnett certainly agreed. Along with sharing the video, he wrote that Shaq “was bad Mf,” ?”1 of 1,”?and “The DIESEL.”?He also added several hundred points emojis, handshake emojis, and saluting emojis. It summed up his feelings for Shaq well.
‘The Big Ticket’ was terrified of Shaq
Kevin Garnett has been O’Neal’s opponent on the court in 57 games. ‘Big Diesel’ dominated him statistically in 31 of their face-offs. And Garnett would claim that Shaq was being merciful to them. They were near equal in at least a couple of games.
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“Shaq could’ve been a lot more mean than he was, you know what I’m saying,” Garnett said on?All the Smoke?last year. “Thank God Shaq was raised right.”?
A bad day at work would be if you’re playing against an angry O’Neal. He was known to channel his anger into the game and his opponents like Garnett could feel every bit of it. “Y’all haven’t played against the pissed-off Shaq,”?Garnett warned his fellow NBA players.
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Garnett was O’Neal’s teammate from 2010 to 2011 when the latter played for the Celtics before retiring. At that time, Garnett saw a rookie Paul George quiver in Shaq’s presence too. As the Reel proves, anyone would have a hard time playing against O’Neal. Do you also agree with Garnett that he’s one of the best centers ever?