Shaquille O’Neal Ripped 5 Urinals Off Locker Room Wall Before Jerry West Admitted Losing 9 Times Before his First Championship
Shaquille O’Neal Ripped 5 Urinals Off Locker Room Wall Before Jerry West Admitted Losing 9 Times Before His First Championship
One of the most dominant big men who ever played the game of basketball, Shaquille O’Neal is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame because of his play and winning 4 championships in the National Basketball Association. Before the accolades and the championships were won, the 7 foot, 1-inch player had no success in the playoffs while playing for his first team, the Orlando Magic. After being moved to the Los Angeles Lakers and right before winning his first championship, O’Neal, after being swept by the San Antonio Spurs in 1999, flew into a fit of rage and ripped off 5 urinals in the locker room after the game.
While appearing on a recent Jimmy Kimmel Live!, O’Neal admitted to the talk show host that after ripping the urinals out of frustration, the Los Angeles Laker’s general manager at the time and fellow Hall of Famer, Jerry West, told him something he never knew that calmed him down.
“So, you remember when I first got to LA in ’96, we would always lose in the playoffs. We would always get swept. So this was the time where, you know, ‘Shaq, he’s a great player but is he really a great player? He’s not winning championships.’ I never thought we would win. So, you know, every year we got better, Kobe and myself, but then when it come to the playoffs we would lose. So, and one last time before we hit three in a row, I just went in the office and I just ripped five off the wall.”
Then West hit him with the gem that made O’Neal retreat and it pacified him at the moment.
“Jerry West came in, and he told me a story I didn’t know. He said, ‘Son, calm down. I went to the Finals nine times before I won it with the Lakers,’ so I didn’t feel as bad. So, like, I’m ripping a urinal off, and I was like, ‘Hold on, you went to the Finals nine times and lost?’ He said, ‘Calm down! You’ll get it! You’ll get it!’”
Watch the full interview below:
Shaquille O’Neal Ripped 5 Urinals Off Locker Room Wall Before Jerry West Admitted Losing 9 Times Before His First Championship
