Shaquille O’Neal turned 50 on March 6th, and that has almost everyone in the NBA community wishing the Diesel a very happy birthday. Shaq has been one of the largest personalities in the game since he started playing, someone that has dominated in every aspect of the game during his prime.
There is nothing quite like a Shaq dunk. Teams had no idea what to do with O’Neal when he was in the paint, the only remotely successful strategy against him was trying to foul him hard so that he had to go to the free-throw line. There are a number of greats that tried to stop him and failed, and because of their helplessness, a number of rims suffered from the consequences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXWWS2DB2Wk
Ahmad Rashad is one of the most storied names in basketball, as a sportscaster, he was one of the few media members that the greatest of them all trusted. Rashad once played a game of 1 on 1 with a young O’Neal who was coming out of college in 1992. He tried giving Shaq the business before asking the big man to give him his best, and O’Neal responded by easily going past him and dunking so hard that he broke the rim and the backboard.
The official NBA History page on Instagram posted this epic clip from 1992 in honor of Shaquille O’Neal’s birthday and the fans absolutely loved it.
damongrego: “He DID say “Gimme your best”.
tvltbh: “I mean… He asked for it.”
coveine: “This man Shaq is literally the reason to why they make the hoops more heavier and sturdy.”
mrmovesumthin: “Thank goodness he was ok after that.”
gabrieldeshawn: “If AD did this he’d be out for the season smh.”
myron38: “If Shaq Took the game more serious and stayed in Shape He Would’ve been the .”
mdf23: “I remember this happening live. Classic.”
mutasemtibi: “A miracle he didn’t break his back!!”
Shaquille O’Neal received a lot of gifts for his birthday, including an unexpected but hilarious duet from Charles Barkley and Adele, but a reminder of the force of nature he used to be is surely right up there with all the other wishes. O’Neal will always be remembered as one of the most dominant forces of all time, and his ability to destroy everyone and everything in his path will likely remain unchallenged.
