Shaquille O’Neal Reveals Patrick Ewing Was The Only Player Who Intimidated Him
Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most dominant and unstoppable players the NBA has ever seen. There are very few other players that were able to put fear in the eyes of opponents on both ends of the floor.
But did Shaq also fear other players? The answer is a surprising ‘yes’. The Big Diesel revealed that Knicks legend Patrick Ewing not only was his idol, but also intimidated him.
“When I was coming up, my father always said, ‘Hey! I’m going to make you like Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain’. And as a youngster, I used to practice these old-school moves, really old-school moves. And then one day I was watching Patrick Ewing in Georgetown. Big guy, mean, physical, throwing people around, running the court. I said ‘Dad, I want to be like him’ and he said, ‘I know, this is why I got you watching the game’.”
“I wanted to be like Patrick Ewing.” @SHAQ gives his respect to the 75th Anniversary Team’s @CoachEwing33. #NBA75
Hear more stories like this in 75 STORIES: PATRICK EWING here: https://t.co/etkps35AQK pic.twitter.com/GW4RLoGfNt
— NBA (@NBA) December 18, 2021