Analyzing Shaquille O’Neal’s Birthday Game vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Clippers – Here Are 3 Intriguing Facts About 23 YO Face-Off

The 7’1 giant Shaquille O’Neal is arguably one of the best centers of all time. Although the ruthless competitor is an overall nice guy, one thing you shouldn’t do as an opponent is give him a reason to demolish you. This mistake was committed by the LA Clippers back in 2000. The result? Shaq’s career-high game and one of the greatest individual performances of all time.

However, Shaq’s beef wasn’t just with the Clippers at the time. There was a lot that built up to that night, and the presence of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the arena only heaped fuel on the fire for the Big Man.

Shaquille O’Neal’s beef with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The two LA Lakers legends didn’t see eye to eye for a very long time. Their cold war lasted almost three decades, but the bigger question is, what started all of this? Their feud dates back to the early 90s when Shaq entered the league. While everyone else was impressed by his athletic prowess, Cap wasn’t a fan of it. In 1993, when Shaq was on set for an ad shoot alongside Kareem, Bill Russell, and Wilt Chamberlain, the Lakers veteran didn’t talk to the youngster once.

This continued further when Shaq joined the Lakers, and the Lakers legend did not welcome him. Although the two were not very public with their opinions on one another, young Shaq being ignored by the veteran was developing a sense of resentment in him.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s jibe at Shaquille O’Neal

When Shaq joined the Lakers in 1996, their championship hopes were on his shoulders. Although they were contenders for the title almost every year, nothing was translating into the ultimate glory. While the franchise tried to figure out how to get past the playoff curse, the 6x NBA champion questioned Shaq’s leadership in the team. The Big Man once recalled on the TNT show what Kareem had said about him. “Shaq is one of the greatest Lakers ever. Well if he’s so great, how come they keep getting in trouble in the playoffs?”

This challenged the dominant Big Man to prove that he had it in him. From 2000 to 2002, the Lakers three-peated the NBA championship which was spearheaded by Shaq and the late great Kobe Bryant. Amidst the glorious three-peat, Shaq settled scores with Kareem on his birthday in the year 2000.

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What motivated Shaquille O’Neal to drop 60 on the Clippers?

The 4x NBA champion was all set for his birthday party and was in a celebratory mood throughout the day. Despite the Clippers game at hand, Shaq’s focus was on everything he was about to do after the game. He had a lot of friends coming to the Staples Center to watch him play, and he asked the Clippers for some extra tickets. To his surprise, his request was rejected, and the Big Man had to pay to get his friends in. This was enough for Shaq to be motivated to do something magical on the court.

With Kareem on the opponent’s bench as an assistant coach, Shaq got into action pretty quickly. The birthday boy closed the game with a career-high 61 points along with 23 rebounds in the game that ended 123-103. Shaq made 24 of the 35 shots he attempted, making the night absolutely miserable for the Clippers. While he was killing it in the game, his eyes often found Kareem still ignoring him.

Years later, the two ended their feud with Kareem singing praises for the most dominant Big Man. Shaq acknowledged Cap’s influence on him by saying that his not speaking to Shaq was the “best thing to happen” to him. It motivated him to be the great basketball player as we know him today.

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