- Shaquille O’Neal gave an interesting NBA comparison for Colorado college football coach Deion Sanders
- Shaquille O’Neal said Sanders reminds him of the legendary Phil Jackson
- Shaquille O’Neal won three NBA championships while playing for Phil Jackson on the Los Angeles Lakers
While it doesn’t have much to do with the NBA, the University of Colorado Football Team and their Head Coach Deion Sanders, have been dominating headlines recently.
And the NBA world has been sucked into it, with prominent talking heads and media members talking about it. Shaquille O’Neal is the latest to give his take on Sanders and his program, interestingly comparing him to one of Shaq’s former coaches.
“When they were down 15, there was a camera that panned to Deion’s face, and it reminded me of Phil Jackson. And I’ve always said, if the general doesn’t panic, the troops don’t panic,” O’Neal told TMZ.
Shaquille O’Neal then went on to expand on the comparison saying that he knows exactly what Deion Sanders’ players feel like.
He said, “I know exactly what the [Colorado players] are going through because when you are standing in front of someone that has an impressive resume, and you’re trying to get to the level he gets to, everything you say is golden. I felt that way when Phil Jackson first came to the Lakers.”
He also called Sanders the biggest coach in college football. O’Neal said, “Deion right now is the best coach in college football. You heard it here first.”
Phil Jackson is the winningest coach in NBA history with 11 championships to his name, three of which were won with Shaquille O’Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers. Shaq saying this is the highest praise he can give Sanders.
Shaquille O’Neal Spoke About How He And Kobe Bryant Never Panicked Because They Had Phil Jackson
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were together on the Los Angeles Lakers for three seasons before Phil Jackson was named Head Coach. In those years, they failed to make it to the NBA Finals despite having a talented roster.
Phil Jackson arrived in 1999, and the team immediately rattled off a threepeat, with O’Neal giving Jackson props for bringing the success to him and Bryant.
“Before [Phil] got there, me and Kobe, we got swept all the time. But when he came there and stepped in the locker room we saw he didn’t panic, so it taught us not to panic. We know that this guy knows what he’s talking about.”
Shaquille O’Neal’s time with the Los Angeles Lakers ended on a sour note, but for three seasons, he was the most dominant force the NBA has ever seen under Phil Jackson. This compliment from him to Sanders goes a long way.
Shaquille O’Neal Once Explained How Phil Jackson United Him And Kobe Bryant
Deion Sanders will have to find a lot of success before he can do justice to a Phil Jackson comparison. But he can learn a lot from the Zen Master’s success in terms of handling high-profile roles.
Shaquille O’Neal once explained, for example, how Jackson handled the tense relationship between him and Kobe Bryant.
“He would mess with me and I would mess with Kobe. He would just say something like, ‘You’re not ready.’ And I’m like, ‘I can’t be ready if this guy’s shooting all the shots.’ So he would say something to me and I’d throw it right back. Genius work.”
Phil Jackson used the friction between Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant to get the best out of them. If Deion Sanders can handle his personnel half as well, then Shaquille O’Neal’s take would go from being praise to possibly a prediction.
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