Shaquille O’Neal Admits Strict Father Slapped Him in the Middle of a Game Even After He Scored 40

The journey of Shaquille O’Neal from a young college kid to the most dominant player in NBA history has been one hell of a journey. He started off at LSU and then he got drafted to the Orlando Magic. Shaq then went to the Lakers and won three titles with them. Later, he went to the Heat and won another title. He ended his career as a Hall of Famer and as one of the greatest players of all time.

Shaq’s most ferocious move was the dunk. He used to dunk so hard that he used to shatter backboards and he even bought down the entire backboard once. Players used to be terrified about guarding Shaq. And more often than not, he used to dunk on players. But in fact, this wasn’t always Shaq’s go-to move. He didn’t even know how to dunk properly and it wasn’t in his arsenal. He says that it was his father that made him learn it and perfect it.

Shaquille O’Neal says his father slapped him on his head

Shaq talks about how he learned to dunk in a game. He says, ” One time in a game, true story, I’m killing them, crossing them up, finger rolling, I got 40. At the end of 3, I got 40. I crossed a dude up at half court and then tried a jelly and missed it. My father walks down the court, call a timeout.”

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“He takes me outside… He wanted perfection. Like if I get 43 points and missed 9 free throws. He’s not happy about the 43, you should have had 52… what the hell are you doing? You know, man I’m working on my Dr. J. and Magic whap. Ain’t no Doctor J, you gotta be the first Shaq.”

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Shaq says he wasn’t mad about his dad whacking him as he was a disciplinarian and he needed it. He adds that’s one of the reasons he made it to the NBA. If his dad wasn’t hard on him at the start, Shaq may never have been as dominant as he was and he may never have won those four titles.

What do you make of Shaq’s legendary career? Let us know in the comments!