The 1990s was the decade of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Winning six championships in six Finals appearances, the Bulls were the team to beat. Led by Jordan, the Bulls had an incredible unit with players like Scottie Pippen supporting ‘His Airness’.
For a player entering the NBA in the 90s, MJ and the Bulls seemed invincible. This was especially true for the No. 1 pick of the 1992 NBA draft Shaquille O’Neal. Coming off of an excellent season with LSU, Shaq, like many other players, looked up to the superstars of the league for inspiration.
Entering the league, O’Neal was drafted to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference. This meant that the center was poised to meet his inspiration on the court throughout the year. Playing in the NBA certainly is intimidating, but facing off against Michael Jordan and the Bulls was in a different ballpark altogether. In an interview with Fox Australia, Shaq recently revealed how he felt facing off against Jordan for the first time.
“Seven hundred days before that, I’m watching this guy on TV… But once you get the butterflies out, it’s different.”
While he was initially in awe of MJ, O’Neal quickly shrugged it off and suddenly, challenging Jordan seemed possible.
“He came down and did a move so beautiful, it was like, ‘oh my god, this guy is the best ever.’ The second time he came down and did the move.”
“I was really close to blocking his shot. Now I said to myself, ‘oh you’re human? I thought you were a god, but you’re human’.”
Shaq certainly was one of the most formidable opponents for MJ and the Bulls in the 90s. While a 6-0 record in the NBA Finals may suggest that Chicago was unbeatable, there was one season where the MJ-led Bulls fell short, the 1995 playoffs, where they suffered a defeat against the Orlando Magic led by Shaq.
Leading the Magic to a 4-2 series win in the 1995 playoffs, it seemed like the ‘Diesel’ and Magic were on their way to becoming the next dynasty in the NBA. But after a crushing defeat in the 1995 Finals, the Magic couldn’t reach the heights they once did. The Shaq and MJ matchup, which looked like a promising rivalry, never materialized as the Bulls steamrolled past Orlando ever since their playoff defeat.
