Gold Bond (DR)
By Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Sports journalist
Having had an NBA career full of folkloric moments, Shaquille O’Neal has no problem telling anecdotes of this kind these days.
This is what he did, for example, when recounting one of his most memorable highlights.
Whether on or off the court, it seemed impossible to get bored with him. This still applies today.
Shaquille O’Neal continues to lead a very fast-paced life, as he did during his heyday as an NBA star .
His catalog of stories is now full and rich in juicy anecdotes, some of which even take place on the court.
The opponent Shaq wanted to punish…with his anatomy
Considered by many to be the most dominant player in history, O’Neal had a habit of humiliating his opponents.
Even unintentionally. However, some of them seemed to be particularly in his sights given the way he treated them.
One such example is poor Chris Dudley, the victim of a Diesel poster that went down in history in 1999:
During a recent interview with Complex , Shaq also returned to this devastating dunk and explained that he had carefully prepared his move:
Shaquille O’Neal: It was at the Forum. I felt like I was being pushed in the back and I saw it was Chris Dudley.
And if you don’t do a double take on me, it’s against my religion. It means you’re not really showing respect.
After that, he tried to fight back with his strength, but the double team still wasn’t coming.
I was like, “What the hell?” So I took another dribble, drop step, dunked and put my family jewels in his fucking face.
And when I came back down, he was there, hugging me. So I was like, “Get out of here,” and I pushed him so he fell to the ground.
Accustomed to having to face two opponents when he received the ball, O’Neal therefore took it badly that Dudley tried to contain him alone.
And it was certainly not the little pressures in the back applied by the latter that helped his case.
As a result, the Big Cactus made sure to punish him, using in passing methods as unusual as they were recommendable for the young generation.
Annoyed at being defended by only one player, namely Chris Dudley, Shaquille O’Neal made him pay for this effrontery in a strong way. No wonder the Knicks center took the humiliating gesture of his tormentor badly.