Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most dominant centers in NBA history, but even he had a trait that infuriated Jack Nicholson.
The Los Angeles legend was the catalyst for the Lakers’ dynasty in the 2000s. He was the star of a team that won three straight titles, forming a dynamic duo with Kobe Bryant.
There was no one who could stop Shaq in the past. He was the most dominant physical force to ever play basketball, and he absolutely owned the paint.
Shaq was a threat on both sides of the ball. He could control the painting with his size, deterring anyone who dared to enter. We haven’t seen anyone dominate the inside game like Shaq since his glory days. Back then, he was an absolute beast to watch.
(1999) 22 years ago today, @SHAQ dropped this crazy poster dunk and had the world in awe.Iconic. 🔥#Shaquille O’Neal #shaquille #oneal #shaq #diesel #nba #Los Angeles Lakers #lalakers #the #lakers #lakeshow #basketball #soak #blow #sport #iconic #classic #legend #greatness pic.twitter.com/MzlwGyaGIG
– In The Showcase (@intheshowcase) March 28, 2021
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Shaquille O’Neal almost ejected Jack Nicholson from a game
If there was any weakness you could find in Shaq’s game, it was his free throws.
The most important thing he never knew how to do was shoot free throws.
Throughout his career, Shaq missed 5,317 free throws, at a rate of about 4.4 failures per game. His free throw shooting percentage was abysmally low at 52.7%.
In 2003, Nicholson lost his cool over this weakness. He was watching a Lakers game, when he suddenly started yelling at an umpire because Shaq had reached his third foul.
The ‘hack-a-Shaq’ technique was clearly on, and the $400 million-valued actor wanted no part of it.
Nicholson probably paid the average price for tickets to the court, which can run as high as $10,000, and nearly lost all of that money.
“I pay a lot of money for this seat,” he yelled. “This is the NBA, you can’t tell me to sit down.”
The referees stated that if he had gone onto the court, they would have had to remove him from the arena.
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