"This motherf**ker smacked me" - Shaquille O'Neal reveals his Drill Sergeant father's slap jump-started his dunking dominance
Ever imagine why the first thought in Shaquille O'Neal's head was to dunk the ball and break the rim? The LA Lakers legend recently revealed that it all started when his father publicly slapped him during a game.
On the latest episode of "The OG Show", Shaq told his former teammate Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller the story about the inception of the most ruthless dunker in the league's history. What started as a rage, finished as Shaq's trademark.
O'Neal recalled one time when he was playing against a smaller team and took the game lightly, trying to test his skills against the weaker team. The four-time NBA champion said that with his team up by at least 40 points, he made a move against his opponent but failed to score on his jump shot.
'Diesel' recalled that his father, who was also in the building, wasn't happy with his son's approach in the game. What his father did in that game might have shaped the career of arguably the most dominant player in basketball history.
"My father walks on the court, in his Drill Sergeant [uniform], 'Call a timeout,'" Shaquille O'Neal recalled. "He grabs me by my collar, takes me outside. 'What you doing?' I say man I am working on my, [and he slapped me]. 'Magic Johnson? Be Shaq'."
So now the whole gym, everybody saw me get smacked, I can't cry. So coach calls a play I said fu*k that give me the ball. Because now I am mad, when I am dunking I wanna break the rim just for this motherfu*ker smacked me."
Shaquille O'Neal's father might have hit him, but it seems like his old man shaped his career in basketball. The 15-time All-Star still talks about his Drill Sergeant father with much love and pride.
Shaquille O'Neal takes a shot at Rudy Gobert
It is never easy for a big man in the league to please Shaquille O'Neal and only a few have been successful in that. Even all-time great Dwight Howard failed to impress the 1999-2000 NBA MVP.
Shaquille O'Neal told Haslem and Miller on "The OG Show" that being the Defensive Player of the Year should put fear in opponents' faces. However, when it comes to Rudy Gobert, teams are targeting him and that should not be his identity as a DPOY.
"(36:43) A lot of these big men fail when I put out these challenges. All the stuff I'm saying about Rudy, you right. You don't think I'm right? Look at this play right here. Why would somebody push you down, and you fall and grab their knees and put your head between their legs?
"You're the Defensive Player of the Year, but every scouting report I'm looking at, they're targeting you."
Rudy Gobert has gotten his name included among the all-time great defenders in the NBA. He is a four-time DPOY and is tied with Rasheed Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo for the most DPOY awards in NBA history.