“Spinned On That Mot**fu*er”: Former NBA Player Recalls the Moment Shaquille O’Neal Broke The Backboard

Just how dominant was Shaquille O’Neal during his playing days? The Big Diesel was one of the toughest players to guard. Opponents would often double team O’Neal to try and minimize his impact on the game. But, he would still get past them and score. In moments where teams failed to double-team him, Shaq would end up breaking the basket’s entire structure, 

Flashback to April 1993, when Shaq was in his sophomore year in the league. The young and dominant center took the league by storm as early as his rookie year. But, people did not know that he’s someone that can rip the backboard apart. 

NBA legend recollects the incident where Shaquille O’Neal left everyone stunned 

Shaq made the thundering dunk against the New Jersey Nets in 1993. Derrick Coleman, who was a part of the Nets team at that time, joined ‘The Knuckleheads’ podcast recently, where he brought up some interesting detail behind the dunk.

Coleman informed how he posterized Shaq in their previous meeting with the Magic. “We’re going back and forth, laughing, talking sh**. When I drove that bit** and banged it on his mot***fu***ng head, I hit him with that,” Coleman said, talking about the popular finger-wagging celebration. “See, Dikembe stole that from me,” he exclaimed. 

“So when he comes back next time again, we talking sh**. So Dwayne Schintzius is out there, god rest his soul. Man, Shaq spinned on that mot***fu**er – hah! Everybody in shock, bro. Everybody with their mouth open like, ‘Yah, this motha just snatched the whole basket down.’”

That is just how a brutal force like Shaquille O’Neal had left everyone awestruck just at 21 years of age. The league saw many more displays of his extraordinary talent as he went on to win a three-peat with the Lakers, and one more ring with the Miami Heat, before calling the curtain on a glorious NBA career in 2011.

Ballislife.com posted Shaq’s version of the story, where he talks about being overpowered by Derrick Coleman. “He’s left-handed, he’s a beast,” Shaq said, talking about Coleman. “I didn’t really know he dunked until I came down and the ball hit me. When I went to the bench, I had a tear in my eye. I was so mad,” he mentioned.