?The Cops Didn?t Even Come?: 7 ft Stature Couldn?t Save Shaquille O?Neal from a Win Frenzied Houston Mob Heckling in 1995

NBA legend Shaquille O?Neal won four NBA championships during his illustrious career, as one of the most successful centers ever. However, it was not an easy feat to accomplish. Even though Shaq was a superstar from the get-go, team success was hard to come by, especially when it came to winning an NBA title. The Big Diesel took the league by storm as a rookie and put up mind-boggling numbers. Despite his lack of experience on the big stage, he led a relatively new team in the Orlando Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals. But Shaq wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

The inexperience of both O’Neal and the franchise was evident in the Finals against a more experienced Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets. And it looks like Shaq’s scars from the 95 Finals are still not completely healed.

Shaquille O?Neal on dealing with a violent mob after depressing Finals loss

Shaquille O?Neal joined co-host Nischelle Turner and guest Candace Parker in the latest episode of the Big Podcast with Shaq. The trio touched on a variety of trending things around the sports world during the sit-down. In one instance, while talking about the Super Bowl, Shaq asked Parker whether she had lost a Final series. The two-time WNBA champion talked about her Finals loss and how debilitating of an experience it was.

Meanwhile, O’Neal opened up about the 1995 NBA Finals loss that Magic suffered against the Houston Rockets. Shaq admitted that he would rather lose early in the playoffs than the Finals because of the toll it takes on the team’s morale and how it makes it harder the next year.

Shaq revealed, “In 94-95 we got swept by the Houston Rockets. Our bus tried to leave and we had to sit in the middle of the people with brooms for an hour and a half. Like the cops didn’t even come. The crowd was like, ‘Sweep, sweep, sweep’. People going [pointing fingers and making faces] and you just have to look at it.”

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The Los Angeles Lakers legend then admitted that he wanted to get off the bus and fight. However, he did not proceed with the idea since there were many people in the crowd. The Orlando Magic reached the 1994-95 Finals after shocking the world by beating Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Even though Jordan was just coming back from a hiatus, most fans still expected the Bulls to beat the Magic. However, the young stars prevailed, contrary to popular belief. Interestingly, O’Neal recently claimed that he is still reaping the benefits of beating MJ.

The 1994-95 NBA Finals

The star-studded Houston Rockets were the reigning champions coming into the 1994-95 NBA Finals. They were heavy favorites to win their second straight ring against the Orlando Magic. However, the Magic beating the Chicago Bulls tipped the scale a little bit and gave the young team major confidence ahead of the final showdown. Some wondered whether the Magic could emulate that performance against the Rockets.

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However, NBA legends Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and others were too much for the Magic to overcome and the Rockets swept them comfortably. The Dream led the Finals in scoring with 32.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game and took home the MVP honors.