“There was sh*t flying everywhere”: 7’1” Shaquille O’Neal described how Michael Jordan helped him deal with repeated failure
Jerry West aka Mr. Logo caught Shaquille O’Neal for destroying a bathroom, Michael Jordan changed his life with advice
Shaquille O’Neal may be one of the most successful centers in NBA history, but there was a time when he also struggled with failure.
The Great Aristotle spent much of his first 7 seasons chasing a championship. His dominance and skill set, while unmatched, always fell short in the playoffs.
Through 99-00, O’Neal had made six playoff appearances, three with the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers. Even someone as gifted and dominant as Shaq was helpless against better teams.
The Bulls were the epitome of team basketball in the ’90s, and while they had Michael Jordan, he wasn’t the only driving force on that team.
Phil Jackson instilled in Michael Jordan and company. the importance of trusting each piece and trusting the process. For Shaq, his unstoppable strength and abilities were redundant when he was facing teams that worked perfectly.
The 1996 Conference Finals demonstrated exactly this. When the Jordan-led Bulls found the Orlando Magic waiting for them in the ECF.
What happened in that series effectively ended Shaquille’s time in Orlando. https://kwitko.com/bioimages/jpg/zetia.html
The 4-0 sweep was too much for Diesel and he moved to Los Angeles and began his career with the Lakers.
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Shaquille O’Neal revealed that Michael Jordan approached him after that tragic sweep with advice
In that series against Chicago, O’Neal averaged 27 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals. He also shot an incredible 64% from the field in that drive.
The sweep despite his fearsome performance left a deep impact on O’Neal. Not because he felt hopeless, but because Jordan gave him advice that taught Shaquille O’Neal how to deal with failure.
In an interview, O’Neal revealed Jordan’s advice.
Shaq: “So we used to get swept all the time and most of the pushback came on me, which was fine with me, but you know, at some point I got tired of hearing it because Michael Jordan told me after they swept. us, ‘before you succeed, you must first learn to fail’. And I just got tired of failing.
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Jordan’s wise words were spot on, but O’Neal took them into consideration only after being swept by the San Antonio Spurs.
In 1999, after the Game 4 loss to the Spurs in the Eastern Conference Finals, Shaq’s anger was at its peak.
The furious giant retaliated with a poor unsuspecting bath. In the interview, O’Neal also shed light on how Jerry West calmed him down.
O’Neal: “So we were once swept by the Spurs. And I went into the bathroom and I smashed all the toilets, all the urinals. https://kwitko.com/bioimages/jpg/reglan.html
