TNT (DR) / NBA (DR)
It’s been a few days now since Michael Jordan found himself immersed in a controversy that calls into question the legitimacy of his statistics. This did not escape Shaquille O’Neal, who reacted bluntly in his podcast.
Arriving in the league in 1992, he has since had the honor of facing his Majesty 21 times, including the playoffs.
Shaquille O’Neal can even boast of having won 9 of these duels against Michael Jordan , which is after all a significant total against such a player.
In any case, he therefore seems well placed to express himself about him these days, and in particular about the controversy that currently surrounds him.
Indeed, 36 years after his first and only coronation as Defender of the Year, the legendary Bulls back recently saw him return to the news.
And not really for the right reasons, since a famous American journalist took the liberty of questioning its legitimacy , with supporting evidence.
According to him, MJ’s statistics… would simply have been deliberately distorted to benefit him.
Shaquille O’Neal cashes in on Michael Jordan controversy
Since the publication of this article against Jordan, many fans have protested. Some have, for example, dug up Scottie Pippen’s old edifying remarks on the subject , which only lend credibility to this version of the facts.
A contemporary of Mike, O’Neal also wanted to talk about this whole affair in his Big Podcast … and was not really surprised by the accusations made:
Shaquille O’Neal: I knew very well that the statistics were inflated at home. I went to John Stockton’s last game and saw him throw the ball to a guy. The guy dribbled the ball 10 times before making the basket and they still gave Stockton the assist to inflate his record. So are the people at the scorer’s table a little less careful at home? Of course.
If he therefore confirms this theory after having been able to attest to it with his own eyes, Diesel nevertheless believes that this in no way deserves general indignation:
Shaquille O’Neal: It doesn’t matter. You want to impress me? Make the changes yourself. But if you change Jordan’s stats, you have to change everyone else’s.
The (John) Havliceks and Pete Maraviches who took their shots from behind the 3-point line when it didn’t exist yet: give them an extra point for all those long-range shots if you’re so keen on doing that! Seriously, forget it. None of this can be confirmed.
So don’t count on Shaq to rewatch Jordan’s 1,072 career games and do his apothecary’s sums.
When a plethora of fans were shocked by the recent case against Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal learned nothing new. Furthermore, he does not expect this to undermine the legacy of His Airness.
