NBA Legend Shaquille O'Neal Reveals How the Houston Rockets Changed his Career

In a recent podcast appearance, basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal opened up about a learning moment from early in his career against the Houston Rockets.

Jun 6, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Shaquille O'Neal looks on before the game between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks in game one of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Today, former MVP and NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal is viewed as basketball royalty after an illustrious career as a player and analyst.

Early in his professional career, however, O'Neal had a few learning moments before he would go on to become one of the most dominant players in the history of the sport.

In the legendary figure's first finals appearance, O'Neal said he was unprepared for how tough Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets would be in a best-of-seven series.

"We had played Houston, like Hakeem was way better than me, but never did what he did to me in the finals during the regular season," O'Neal said. "I learned that, when you get to that level, you've got to step it up a notch. I didn't know that. So, we're playing the Rockets, and (we've) beat them before. That first game, we start to rolling and then we lose and we get swept."

As O'Neal referenced, Olajuwon and the Rockets easily defeated the Orlando Magic in four games to win Houston's first-ever NBA championship.

Olajuwon put on a masterful performance against O'Neal in the 1995 NBA Finals, averaging 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, two blocks and two steals per game en route to winning Finals MVP honors.

Even in the series loss, O'Neal also had an impressive performance, tallying 28 points, 12.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.5 blocks per game.

The former No. 1 overall pick said that his loss to Olajuwon and the Rockets fueled his improvement over the offseason and in future years, eventually leading to O'Neal winning three consecutive championships with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1999-2002 and another with the Miami Heat in 2006.

The 1995 victory over O'Neal, Penny Hardaway and the Magic was the second consecutive title for Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and the Rockets after taking down the New York Knicks in 1994.

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