“I was p***ed off” – Failure to team up with Michael Jordan left Shaquille O’Neal JEALOUS and UPSET

Duke's Christian Laettner was given the nod over O'Neal for a spot on the 'Dream Team'.

“I was p***ed off” – Failure to team up with Michael Jordan left Shaquille O’Neal JEALOUS and UPSET

Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan (Getty Images)

The 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona showcased the legendary “Dream Team,” which comprised an extraordinary roster of iconic NBA players. The team featured basketball greats such as Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, and several others. Their combined talent, skill, and dominance on the court led to a resounding victory as they secured the gold medal for Team USA.

One of the surprising names that was included in the roster was that of Christian Laettner, a great college basketball player out of Duke University. Team USA had reserved a spot on the team for a college player and given Laettner’s success in college, he was selected to play on the team. One player who wasn’t very happy about being overlooked for that exclusive spot was none other than LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal.

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During a radio interview in 2012, O’Neal was questioned about his omission the greatest basketball team ever assembled. The big man candidly admitted feeling a mix of anger and jealousy upon not being included in the team. He said, “I was p***ed off. I was jealous, but then I had to come to the realization that I was a more explosive, more powerful player, but Christian Laettner was a little bit more fundamentally sound than I was. Plus he stayed all four years and graduated. I just think it helped me grow as a player.”

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O’Neal stated that his father gave him a reality check, highlighting that Laettner had achieved great success in college basketball by winning two NCAA Championships and receiving the National Player of the Year award in his final college season.

He then described his personal encounter with Laettner on the basketball court. Shaq admitted that when he played against Laettner for the first time, he outperformed him significantly.

He said, “Let me tell you something that my father wanted known that was real, ‘Hey, man, he won two in college , what’d you do?’ And then first time I played him, he killed me. He destroyed me. I’m not racist or anything, but that white boy ate me up.”

Fair to say, Laettner, following carving himself an impressive college career, earned himself a deserved call-up from the Dream Team.

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In addition to Shaquille O’Neal, Isiah Thomas was also snubbed from the Dream Team

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Isiah Thomas (Getty Images)

Isiah Thomas was a brilliant basketball player. The 12-time All-Star led the Detroit Pistons to consecutive championships in 1989 and 1990 and won the Finals MVP award in 1990 as well. While he was a terrific player, he developed a reputation for being one of the most disliked guys in the league. Apart from the unnecessary trash-talking, his team often played ‘dirty’, committing hard fouls on opponents.

Thomas famously got himself in the bad books of Michael Jordan when the point guard and the entire Pistons team walked off the court before the game was over in Game 4 of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals when the Bulls swept the Pistons, refusing to shake hands on their way out.

Due to the intense rivalry and bad blood between the two, Jordan reportedly told long-term NBA executive Rod Thorn that he wouldn’t play on the Olympic Team if Thomas was a part of the team. Many years later, Jordan called Thomas an ‘a**hole’ in his documentary ‘The Last Dance’ and said that he hated him, words that were not taken too kindly by Thomas, who is still waiting for an apology from Jordan.

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