Arguably the most dominant big man ever, NBA legend Shaquille O?Neal used to terrorize opposition defenses as a habit. It was a nightmare for his opponents to face him on both ends of the court. If a player was not careful, things would turn ugly very soon as Shaq could embarrass anyone in the low block with his physical prowess. The NBA world recently recalled the loss of a legend whose pivotal advice helped the Detroit Pistons stop the onslaught of Shaq(coming off a three-peat)?and win the 2004 NBA championship.

There have only been a few players and teams, who had managed to restrain the Big Diesel in his prime. One such team was the Detroit Pistons. NBA legend Rasheed Wallace was a major reason behind the Pistons’ success in 2004. He recently talked about his former teammate’s advice on going up against O’Neal, as the NBA world paid their respects to the late legend.

Rasheed Wallace on the late Cliff Robinson’s advice on Shaquille O’Neal

Rasheed Wallace recently sat down for an interview where he talked about his experience in the league among other things. In one instance, the power forward explained how hard it was to play against Shaquille O’Neal. Wallace recounted that after his first-ever game against the Los Angeles Lakers legend, he was knackered and had to put ice on his elbows, knees, and ankles.

As Cliff Robinson entered the locker room and saw the state of Wallace, the veteran had a valuable piece of advice for him.

During the interview, Wallace revealed, “He [Cliff Robinson] said, ‘Hey Roscoe, you can’t be doing that s**t. See you gotta take him out on the wing a little bit you know. You can score out there, you are faster out there, more agile than him on that wing. So take him out there to your world.'”

Wallace admitted that he took the advice from the veteran because he did not want to be “iced up” every time he played against Shaq. So the four-time NBA All-Star then tried to drag out O’Neal to the flanks whenever he faced him. Even though his attempts brought in some success, Wallace was the victim of one of the most iconic plays in league history while playing against the deadly duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaq.

However, it is safe to say that the advice seemed to have worked, as the Pistons shocked the world when they beat the Lakers 4-1 in the 2004 NBA Finals. Notably, the Lakers were coming off a historic three-peat and many thought they will win the ring for the fourth straight time. Meanwhile, as Wallace recalled the great insight from his former teammate Cliff Robinson, fans mourned the tragic passing of the NBA legend a few years back.

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Fans paid their tributes to Cliff Robinson

Cliff Robinson also played for the Detroit Pistons for two seasons before Rasheed Wallace joined them. As a veteran, Robinson helped the young stars on the team in a number of ways. However, he was not part of the title-winning 2004 team because he joined the Golden State Warriors that year.

After retiring from the NBA in 2011, he passed away in 2020 due to lymphoma at the age of 53. When the video clip of Wallace talking about Robinson’s advice was shared on social media, fans mourned once again the late NBA star. Here are some of the reactions:

“Rip uncle cliff”, “R.I.P. Cliff Robinson”, “Uncle Cliffy rest in power”, “Makes sense. RIP to the UConn legend Cliff Robinson”, “Cliff gave sheed the recipe. R.i.P”, “Damn, Uncle Cliffy low-key help start the stretch big with this piece of advice”.

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