Rivalries are some of the most exciting things in basketball. Lakers vs. Celtics, Magic vs. Bird, Bulls vs. Pistons — for all of the NBA’s existence, rivalries have been a thing.
For a while, Shaquille O’Neal had some beef with legendary Spurs big man, David Robinson. For whatever reason, fans were convinced that the two absolutely hated each other, which probably had something to do with the ferociousness Shaq played with seemingly every time he went up against him.
Well, according to ONela himself in an interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, there actually was son rivalry there at all.
“David was just so nice and respectful,” Shaq said. “He’s just a nice guy. I’m not a bully. You have to piss me off for me to get mad. David was, ‘Hey Shaq how ya doin? How’s your family?’ So nice and – so I had to make something up just to make me mad and then when I came down to San Antonio and the fans start booing me – ‘Oh you’re booing me in my hometown?’
“And then it was like a hatred thing for David and the Spurs. But it was all made up.”
Shaq on beef with David Robinson: “It was all made up.”
“When I came down to San Antonio and the fans start booing me – ‘Oh you’re booing me in my hometown?’
And then it was like a hatred thing for David & the Spurs.”
– Via Scoop B Radio pic.twitter.com/DUkQDdDirz
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) September 18, 2021
Indeed, the two had some pretty epic battles back in the day, and it makes sense that people would try and make a rivalry out of it.
Their most epic battle came in 1994, when “The Admiral” dropped 71 points in the season finale to take the scoring title from Shaq.
During their prime, they both were considered among the best players in the game, and both played in a similarly powerful way. They often got in each other’s way.
Still, their “beef” was nothing more than two competitors just doing their thing, which seems to be a common occurrence for a lot of “rivalries” both past and present.
Whatever the case, you got to love the amazing moments those two gave us both against each other and individually.
