Shaq’s Ex-Agent Reveals Why Magic Lost to Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets After Stunning Michael Jordan’s Bulls in 1995 (Exclusive)

Shaquille O’Neal averaged 28.0 points, 12.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 4 games in the 1995 NBA Finals. Yet he has said numerous times that losing the finals to the Houston Rockets was his fault. The finals were also an important milestone since Shaq had defeated Michael Jordan in the Eastern Conference semifinals en route to his first final appearance. But, little did Shaq know about what the finals will hold.

And here at EssentiallySports, we exclusively got to hear one such story. Recently, our NBA enthusiast Vishal Kolar had another conversation with Leonard Armato, ex-agent of Shaquille O’Neal, who revealed the reason Shaq and Orlando Magic lost the final to Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets and the importance of beating Jordan.

Shaq averaged 24.3 points, 13.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Bulls. And against the Indiana Pacers, he averaged 27.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 7 games in the finals. Nobody expected the Rockets to sweep the Magic but Armato talks about the potential shortcomings of the team.

Armato: “As the Orlando Magic got to the championship game, and they were absolutely elated. It was almost like they’d won the championship when they beat Michael Jordan. And they kind of I don’t want to say they led down when they played the Rockets. But it was almost like an afterthought to play the Rockets after they beat Michael Jordan.”

Additionally, Armato said everyone revered Jordan because he was so amazing and was the best in the game. In the list of people who greatly respected MJ, Shaq was also one of them according to Armato. During the semifinal, O’Neal knocked down Jordan and the next thing that happened was very Jordan-like behavior.

Vishal: “Do you remember the first time that Shaq and Michael played each other? And any conversations you had with Shaq before that as you know Shaq even says back he was definitely star-struck playing Michael?”

Armato: “I think Shaq went to help him up. Michael goes ‘don’t help me up, you know don’t help me up like you shouldn’t be helping up your competitor because you want to beat them.’ Michael was the most competitive person in the world. I mean, everyone will tell you that. But, you know, Shaq was able to actually beat him and the first one to beat him after he’d won a championship when Chicago played the Orlando Magic.”

Several times, ‘Superman’ came close to bringing the championship to the Orlando Magic. But he left the team without a win in his books. And recently, O’Neal opened up about that stint.

Shaq embarrassed about the loss with the Orlando Magic

Shaq has brought it up before. The team had 10 days off after beating the then-three-time champions. They were on an emotional high of beating ‘His Airness’. Not many in the ’90s walked away with the feeling of beating Jordan in a playoff series. This would become the proudest highlight of Shaq’s resume now. Back then, it was big enough to celebrate during the playoffs. Looking back at it now, all Shaquille O’Neal can think is, “‘You d**khead! You could’ve got Orlando their first championship.'”

In an appearance on JJ Redick’s podcast in May this year, Reddick asked about the importance of the Finals MVP. “That, to me, is the ultimate,” Shaq revealed what it meant to be a Finals MVP. However, he couldn’t help but reflect on his chance with Orlando in 1995. ” I don’t like doing things that hurt me twice. When I got swept in Orlando, it was embarrassing. And it was my fault. It was embarrassing. I’m the type of guy that sh*t will live with me forever because it was a mistake.”

That defeat instilled a different mentality in him that he never forgot. “‘If I ever get back to the Finals, imma f**king kill everybody.'” He went on to win three rings for the Lakers. And was also named MVP finals 3 times. But he still could never forget the chance to win with Orlando Magic.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, had to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.