David Robinson is one of the biggest legends San Antonio has ever seen, the Admiral won two championships with the Spurs and was a dominant force during the 1990s in the NBA. Around that time was when a young Shaquille O’Neal was coming up in the same area as well, and Shaq showed signs of becoming a beast in the NBA from a young age, shattering backboards and dominating any player that went up against him.
While the two had a mutual admiration for one another, once they got to the NBA, they were rivals. A beef sprung up between the two at the time, something that Shaq himself has admitted was made up so he could motivate himself to play against Robinson. And speaking about Robinson for the NBA’s Top 75 stories campaign, Shaq went on to say that Robinson was the player he loved most.
“David Robinson is my favorite player ever. I loved David Robinson. I loved him so much that I had to make up a fake story to be able to play against him. Cuz David was a nice man, I met him in high school… When I was in high school, he met me, he was like, “Oh, how you doin’ nice to meet you’, and I’m like, ‘Wow, what a nice man’. So when I had to play against him, I had to make up a story in my head… Cuz me, when I’m upset, I play better and I play harder.”
Shaquille O’Neal and David Robinson faced each other 40 times during their NBA careers and the split was an even 20-20 in terms of wins between the two. Shaq statistically dominated Robinson in these matchups but that stands to reason as a lot of them happened when Robinson was older and Shaq was entering his prime with the Lakers. Both players remain two of the most incredible players to grace the NBA and their unique rivalry will surely live long in the memory of most fans from that era.
