It is always to great to see 15-time All-Star, basketball hall of famer and NBA analyst Shaquille O’Neal. Whether on social media or in the broadcasting booth, Shaq knows how to make people laugh.
He wasn’t always the outspoken big man that made him one of the most respected and feared players in the league. As a rookie, Shaquille O’Neal was a quiet and nervous player who looking to take his first serious step into the league.
Former teammate and NBA analyst Dennis Scott was on FanDuel’s ‘Run It Back’ with Michelle Beadle and Chandler Parsons to talk about Shaq’s early days in the league.
The Orlando Magic had an easy decision to make with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. The 7’1; 300 big man from LSU was seen as a polarizing pick at the time.
One of the most interesting aspects of the big man we know today is his sense of humor. He wasn’t always the humorous and expressive person he is today.
Former teammate Dennis Scott talked about how he was a modest and calm rookie, as he was a nervous player trying to make it to the league.
“Don’t let the Shaq we know now fool you. Shaq was naïve, he was humble, he was scared.
“He was sitting in the back of the bus asking all of these crazy questions.
“I never forget this situation, we are in Anaheim playing the Clippers in an exhibition game, he is sitting at the back of the bus, his agent at the time calls and he (Shaq) says ‘man, they are about to offer me $100 million dollars, I won’t be able to go anywhere.’ I said, ‘fool, you can’t go nowhere now.’”
“As a rookie, he was the only one that he took the rookie hazing as a young star the right way.
“He carried the bags, he hated it but he realized that a part of the culture of being in a fraternity of being an NBA play.”
It quickly became clear for the Magic players how his presence caused a continuous following before even playing his first game in the league.
Scott broke down the early days of Shaq. He said: “We called him the Shaq Piper, because of all the nicknames that he had, I said ‘big fella, you don’t realize that you just stepped foot in the NBA and everywhere we go, there’s somebody following us.
“One of the stories I remember, we were playing the Detroit Pistons in South Dakota for an exhibition game.
“Well because of Shaq, we’re playing full speed, stars in the fourth quarter for the first exhibition game and its all because of Shaq.”
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