Shaquille O’Neal changed the fortunes of the Los Angeles Lakers when he joined them in 1996. By 2000, he became one of the most feared players in the game who was dominating in a way nobody had seen before. However, his pure physicality meant that he needed to stay in shape to sustain that over a game.
Then Lakers head coach Phil Jackson wanted to motivate Shaq to be in the best shape possible and decided to appeal to Shaq’s competitive spirit. A Reddit user shared a clip of Phil revealing how he managed to get Shaq to stay fit.
“I met him coming off the court in maybe the 5th or 6th game of the season. I just said, ‘what’s the greatest record that Wilt Chamberlain had?’ He was like, ‘oh man, he once scored 50 points with 30 rebounds in a game.’ I said, ‘ Nah. He played every minute of every game. He played over 48 minutes in a game but sat out 2 minutes in overtime. He played every minute, can you do that?’ He was like, ‘if he can do that, I can do that.’ I started playing him 48 minutes a game and it got him in great shape. A week and a half later, he sent an emissary over in John Salley to say maybe that’s not such a good idea.”
Shaquille O’Neal With The Lakers Was A Cheat Code
Even if what Jackson wanted to do lasted just 10 days, Shaq’s Lakers career is proof that he was arguably the best player in the world during his time there. He won 3 consecutive Finals MVPs from 2000 to 2002 and established himself as an all-time great center.
O’Neal averaged 27.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 514 games over 8 seasons for the Lakers in his career. He had an incredible partnership with Kobe Bryant on the court that Phil Jackson used to perfection to ensure that the Lakers would be the most dominant team of that era.
Shaq’s time in LA ended in 2004 after growing tension between him and Kobe, along with the sacking of Phil Jackson. In his 8 seasons with the LakeShow, he established himself as one of their greatest centers ever.
