Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most legendary figures ever to grace the NBA. During his prime with the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaq was near unstoppable on both sides of the court as he led the franchise to a three-peat alongside Kobe Bryant. O’Neal has a habit of saying and doing whatever he wants to, and that has seen him make several slightly controversial statements even after he finished playing.
In the 2000-01 season, the Lakers were the defending champions and their superstar pairing of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal was considered the best in the league. They played that year’s MVP in the NBA Finals in Allen Iverson, who carried his 76ers team on his back that entire campaign. Iverson had an iconic first game in that series, scoring 48 and leading his team to a surprise win.
When talking about his battles against a number of stars in the early 2000s and specifically Allen Iverson, O’Neal revealed to Bleacher Report in 2020 that he sometimes let the players he liked score against him. Shaq went on to claim that he could have done more against Iverson in particular.
“There were guys that when we played them, I was such a fan I let them do what they wanted on me. White Chocolate (Jason Williams), I want him to go to work. Vince Carter, A.I. (Allen Iverson) and Tracy McGrady.”
“Every time we played A.I., I liked him crossing over and he was tough. I could’ve blocked his shot multiple times, I just didn’t want to.”
Shaq and A.I. faced each other on 30 different occasions during their career, with the big man winning 18 of those encounters. He must not have been trying all that much on defense for most of those games though, considering that Iverson averaged 28.5 points in those games. Iverson is considered one of the most prolific scorers in the history of the game and while O’Neal might have let him have it easy a few times, there wasn’t much he or anyone could do against The Answer when he had it going.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxh5Z8PZbj8
