“A Guy That Big”: Michael Jordan’s Legendary Rival Reveals Mentoring Young Shaquille O’Neal Despite Getting Humbled in 1995

One of Michael Jordan’s most memorable rivals was former Atlanta Hawks star Dominique Wilkins. Even though the former high flyer’s resume isn’t in the same stratosphere as MJ’s, fans from back in the day looked forward to watching the ‘Human Highlight Reel’ go up against the Chicago Bulls superstar. However, their rivalry really consummated in the 1988 NBA Slam Dunk contest. Apart from building a Hall-of-Fame NBA career, Wilkins also mentored future NBA greats. Recently, the Hawks legend discussed what it was like to mentor a young Shaquille O’Neal, during his sit-down with DJ Vlad.

O’Neal’s game did not take long to take off in college, and later on, in the NBA. However, he still needed a mentor to guide him at the time. Fortunately for him, Wilkins had been looking out for him since his days at Louisiana State University. As the legend revealed, Nique enjoyed his role very much, as he guided Shaq to become the most dominant center ever. Despite being defeated by the Shaq-led Orlando Magic in 1995, Wilkins still is proud of mentoring the big man.

Dominique Wilkins fondly remembers mentoring Shaquille O’Neal

In 1995, Dominique Wilkins was part of the Boston Celtics. In the first round of the playoffs that year, the team had to face Shaq’s up-and-coming Magic team. With series only going up to five games at the time, the Celtics didn’t have much wiggle room either. Unfortunately for them, in the end, they were sent home in four games.

Wilkins expressed his regret over not beating the team, believing that they ‘had them’. However, soon setting it aside, Dominique began to fondly remember his time with Shaq. Speaking on his experience mentoring him and what he was like back in the day, the nine-time All-Star said the following.

“Oh he [Shaquille O’Neal] was the energetic, young man. I mean, physical, athletic off the charts, man for a guy that big, and just was a fun guy to play against. I was kind of a mentor to him…when he was in college, LSU, when I first met him. So, we had a pretty cool friendship.”

From the way he spoke about him, it is clear that Shaq owns a special place in Wilkins’ heart. Given how much of a loving man Shaq has turned into over the years, that isn’t likely to change anytime soon.

Wilkins also revealed the foul play behind David Robinson winning the scoring title over Shaq

Back in 1994, Shaquille O’Neal and Spurs legend, David Robinson were the frontrunners to win the scoring title. It came down to the final games of the season to see who would run away with the title. At the time, the San Antonio Spurs were playing against the LA Clippers, a team that had Dominique Wilkins on it. Due to this, he was able to reveal a shocking story about former Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, and how he employed dirty tactics to make sure Robinson won the award. The following is what Wilkins said.

“Playing for Sterling? Lot of things. “I remember the end of the year, playing against the San Antonio Spurs, and Bob Weiss came in the locker room and said, ‘Look, I want y’all to get along, but I’ve been told to take all you guys out after the first four minutes of the first quarter,’” Wilkins said. And I’m like, ‘Why?’ And he said, ‘Donald Sterling wanna see David Robinson keep the scoring title in the West, he didn’t want Shaquille to get it in the East.’ I said, ‘Last time I checked, neither guy played on our team. Who cares?’ And so he did, he took us out with four minutes to start in the game, and David Robinson had 71. Crazy.”

Given how petty Shaq can be at times, it is likely this story is still a thorn in his mind.

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• Dominique Wilkins
• NBA
• Shaquille O'Neal