“They Said I Couldn’t Do Certain Things”: Shaquille O’Neal Sheds Light on How He Overcame the Challenges of Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Others

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is arguably the most dominant center in the history of the league. However, like every player, he had his doubters as well. When Shaq entered the NBA in 1992, big and powerful centers like Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, and David Robinson, among others, dominated the league. So Shaq was not even considered a top-5 center at the time despite his monstrous rookie season. The four-time NBA champion recently revealed how he changed that dynamic and established his name in the league.

The Big Diesel took the league by storm in his rookie year and won the ROY award. He continued his improvement and averaged over 29 ppg in his second and third seasons for the Orlando Magic. However, he still had to work hard for his spot.

Shaquille O’Neal used jealousy as his incentive to make his name known

Shaquille O’Neal recently joined the Fluent & Chill podcast presented by Players Choice. Interestingly, one of Shaq’s first cousins is a co-host for the show. During the sit-down, the 15-time NBA All-Star opened up about a variety of things, including how he used jealousy as a key motivator.

His first cousin Jermain asked Shaq about his rookie season, which was during the era of big centers, and wanted to know how the Big Fella handled it. The 2000 NBA MVP then listed the legends dominating the paint at the time, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Rik Smits. He added that he was not a top-5 center in the NBA when he was a rookie because it did not matter what he did in college basketball.

The three-time Finals MVP noted that he wanted to show other superstar centers that he is coming for their spot. Shaq admitted that he always uses his jealousy as motivation, instead of hating on people. He added, “I just want to, you know, make my name noticed and put a mark, because they said that I couldn’t do certain things. That didn’t do nothing but motivate me.”

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The Los Angeles Lakers legend had a lot of critics, including the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. However, he used the criticism as fuel and became one of the best ever. Now, as an analyst, O’Neal tries to motivate the current crop of players with his criticism. But it is not always received well.

O’Neal was furious about the comparisons

In one instance, Shaquille O’Neal expressed his disgruntlement with the podcast crew. He warned his cousin and the crew to not compare current stars with him in terms of dominance. He stated that only he and Wilt Chamberlain are the most dominant players ever. The crew looked a bit taken aback but agreed to his demands.

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