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Shaquille O’Neal says "Michael was lucky he wasn't guarding him" when Jordan had 64
Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal were fierce rivals in the 1990s, and the dominant center recently reminisced about one of their epic encounters from January 16, 1993, when the Chicago Bulls hosted the Orlando Magic.
“This was thirty years ago today, Michael was lucky I wasn’t guarding him. lol,” O'Neal wrote in an Instagram post.
Orlando wins despite MJ's 64
Rookie Shaq had a monster game against the then-defending NBA champions, leading the Magic to a 128-124 overtime victory over the Bulls.
O’Neal finished with 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting with 24 rebounds and five blocks. Jordan was just as dominant, scoring a game-high 64 points on 27-of-49 from the field, along with six rebounds and five steals.
However, despite putting up the second-highest-scoring game in his career, MJ wasn't happy with the loss, as he described his legendary performance as "wasted energy."
"The points don't make a difference to me. It's just wasted energy in a sense because we didn't finish the game the way we should have. We just gave away the game. We played good enough, but we just made some dumb plays. When you blow a six-point lead in less than a minute, there is something wrong with that. Getting 64 points doesn't mean anything when you lose," MJ said, per Chicago Tribune.
O’Neal on playing against Jordan
As dominant as Shaq was, he wasn’t fearless when playing against Jordan. O’Neal talked about it during his appearance on IMPAULSIVE with Logan Paul.
“He’s the only man that had me terrified on the court. Because I went from high school, admiring him, in college, admiring him, admiring him, and then he’s right there in front you and all the s*** you see on your poster like he’s doing it in real life like he came by me so fast sometimes I was like oh s***,” O’Neal explained.
In 1995, Jordan, who was away from the NBA for 21 months, returned from retirement with a few weeks left in the regular season.
The Bulls made the playoffs and reached the second round, but the Magic eliminated them in six games. Chicago got payback against Orlando the following year, sweeping them in the Eastern Conference Finals. O’Neal reflected on this in an appearance on FAIR GAME with Kristine Leahy.
“Before I came to LA, Orlando Magic versus Chicago Bulls, we had beaten them the year before, went to the Finals, and got swept... Michael Jordan came back stronger than ever, swept again. Michael was my fraternity brother, puts his hand on my shoulder and says, ‘Before you succeed, you must first learn how to fail.’ And I had no idea what that meant,” O’Neal said.
Jordan’s words stuck with Shaq, as his advice helped him deal with adversity when he joined the Lakers, and they struggled in the first years with him and Kobe Bryant leading the team.
