The current President, and Vice President of Reebok Basketball, would fight tooth and nail on the court. And once during the 2000-01 season, Allen Iverson jumped on Shaquille O’Neal‘s back. That’s how powerful Shaq was, where opponents had to find unique ways to take the ball away from him. But, what if the roles were reversed? The Philadelphia 76ers legend answered that with a painful memory.
But, before AI talked about his injury, Shaq spoke about the foul during the 2001 finals. “I had to foul him hard one time that was in the finals and his mom gave me the craziest look,” Shaq said, via The Big Podcast with Shaq. Iverson then spoke about how an injury from O’Neal sidelined him for 2 months. “This dude, right here, gave me the worst injury I had in my career.”
Before continuing, he asked if Shaquille O’Neal remembered the incident. “I was coming down, full speed, and you tried to get in front of me and your knee hit me in my thigh, I had a thigh bruise. I was out like two months from that injury.” Probably hearing about it for the first time, the Los Angeles Lakers legend said, “Damn.”
Big Diesel’s co-host Adam Lefkoe reminded Shaq of how big his thighs are. And the 7’1″ phenom then joked about the situation while subtly incorporating a brand integration, saying, ” You ain’t getting no Icy Hot?” He continued to mock, “Man up, Allen Iverson. Icy Hot.” Allen Iverson revealed that he had a photo of the gruesome injury that Shaquille O’Neal caused.
Iverson would want to share it with the world on social media, but with Shaq’s mocking, he might have to think twice before posting. Bubba Chucks also shared another painful memory after the hard foul. “The worst part is you going to hurt me and then help me up.” Everybody witnessed the domination of Shaquille O’Neal, but was there a way to stop it? A former NBA star revealed the strategy.
Hack-a-Shaq strategy against Shaquille O’Neal
AI revealed his technique of jumping on O’Neal’s back in order to stop him. But, other teams and players would load bigs up on their roster just so they could rack up fouls against Shaquille O’Neal. This method was called the ‘Hack-a-Shaq’ strategy, where the teams would foul purposely so the big man would end up on the free throw line, which was one of his weaknesses.
Richard Jefferson said the only way to stop him was by excessive fouls. He also acknowledged that opponents had to “club” Shaquille O’Neal to avoid buckets. The current ESPN analyst spoke of the greatness of Shaquille O’Neal on the Mark Jackson Show.
Even though the strategy was well thought out, it did not yield any results. Shaquille O’Neal played 19 seasons and averaged 23.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. Thus, he successfully found ways to score despite poor FT percentage.
Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.
The post “Mom Gave Me the Craziest Look”: Shaquille O’Neal Forced to Revisit the Worst Injury He Gave Allen Iverson appeared first on EssentiallySports.
