During his heyday in the NBA, Shaquille O’Neal towered over his opponents and dominated the game with both pace and power. However, his body was not always his greatest companion, as his former coach revealed in Shaq’s new HBO documentary.

Ford McMurtry remembered how when Shaquille was young, he had abnormal growth in some parts of his body. “His bones were growing faster than muscles. And it was really painful for him to run,” he recalled how Shaq would cry when they ran conditioning drills.

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When Shaq was inducted into the Hall Of Fame, he thanked 3 men who, in his words, “changed the direction” of his life. Ford McMurtry, his first basketball coach, his college coach Dale Brown and Chris Woodard. Shaquille O’Neal was grateful for each of their role in shaping his game.

The Big Diesel was not always the front-runner to make the team. He recounted how he tried out for his high school basketball team, and didn’t make the cut for the Fulda American High School, Germany. But this eventually became a blessing in disguise for Shaq.

Ford McMurtry, who had been the assistant coach of the team, had quit and started another team. In 1986, he asked Shaq to join the team. Shaquille O’Neal credited him for being patient and nice to him. “He raised my confidence level. He worked on my conditioning and my footwork”, Shaq said.

Another coach also noticed the struggles of Shaquille O’Neal

Like McMurtry, Chris Woodard remembered noticing a 14-year-old Shaquille O’Neal who struggled to wield his body as an asset. Woodard met his father, Phil Harrison, who eventually asked Woodard to coach his son. Harrison believed that his son had potential and wanted someone to guide him to actualize it.

Woodard taught Shaq to cultivate a mindset that would instill fear in his opponents. He taught him to handle the ball and reaffirmed that size alone cannot win the game.

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Shaquille O’Neal went on to become a four-time NBA champion and has had many accolades to his name. He still remains a highly respected figure in the league. However, without the guidance of his coaches in his formative years, it is highly unlikely that we would’ve seen Shaq becoming an inte

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