“That's why Tiger Woods is out there”: Shaquille O'Neal once brushed aside claims of immaturity with golf legend comparisons
During the early years of Shaquille O'Neal's career, he was often viewed as an immature player. Throughout the 1996 NBA season, O'Neal, who was playing for the Orlando Magic, often dealt with questions regarding his maturity level and the overall maturity level of a young Orlando team.
However, as reported by Tim Crothers for Sports Illustrated, Shaquille O'Neal changed the narrative surrounding his maturity during one specific press conference.
"Shaquille O'Neal of the Orlando Magic has fielded so many questions about his maturity this season that he must be wondering if he's a center or a savings bond," Crother reported. "Last week in Orlando, on the occasion of the gazillionth inquiry concerning the M-word, O'Neal made his gazillionth attempt to explain his position.
Here's what O'Neal said:
"I don't believe in that stuff about how youth can't win NBA championships. If you got game, you got game. That's why Tiger Woods is out there playing golf with Greg Norman. Once and for all, I am mature enough."
Shaquille O'Neal has always been a jovial character. However, on the court, the hulking big man was a fierce competitor and is now viewed as arguably the most dominant big man to ever grace the NBA. Unfortunately, O'Neal's tenure with the Magic didn't end in a championship, but it did set the table for Shaquille O'Neal to earn a move to the LA Lakers.
Michael Jordan would have forced Shaquille O'Neal to remain with Lakers
During his tenure with the LA Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal formed a ferocious partnership with Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately, that partnership eventually turned sour, leading the Lakers to part ways with O'Neal.
When speaking to Marvin R. Shanken of Cigar Aficionado in 2005, NBA legend Micahel Jordan said he would have forced O'Neal to remain with the Lakers if he was in Kobe Bryant's shoes:
"I would have never gotten rid of Shaq [O'Neal]. It's as simple as that. You've got three championships with a big man, and big men are hard to find. Not only that, you have the most dominant big man in the game today. You don't just send him away because you got some problems.
"But you can't blame one guy. It's a combination of both of them. If you've got success in your house, you find a way to manage so that everybody prospers and everybody is viewed as champion. Personalities got involved after they'd had some success. It becomes about individuals—individual goals that they wanted to achieve."
O'Neal won one more championship after leaving the Lakers, doing so with the Miami Heat during the 2005-06 season. Throughout his career, O'Neal participated in 1,207 regular-season games, averaging 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists, while shooting 58.3% from the field.
Since retiring, O'Neal has become a mainstay on the TNT post-game coverage, where he allows his jovial personality to shine through.