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Rockets Legend Once Left 7 ft Monster Shaquille O’Neal Dumbstruck And Helpless As He Stared Him In The Face And Shot Over Him: “Who The F**k Is This Guy?”

Published 07/13/2022, 7:30 AM EDT

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Shaquille O’Neal was almost always the biggest man on the court. It was mostly due to his size and his athleticism. He is still considered one of the most dominant players to play the game. But, he too had to face obstacles. Mostly, there were smaller and faster players but one time, he was beaten in his own game. He was outjumped and outgunned by a 7’6″ Chinese giant named Yao Ming. Ming was one of the biggest international superstars during his NBA prime. The Big Diesel had first-hand experience of how tough it was to beat the former Houston Rockets star.

Both of them had a friendly feud with each other to see who was the biggest man on the court. Shaquille O’Neal has acknowledged that he didn’t know much about him before their first meeting. He said, “He came in and I tried to hit him with a smooth finger move. Block. Next, I tried to hit him with a fadeaway. Block. I tried to come up with a dunk. Block. He was the first guy who blocked my shot three times in a row”.

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Shaquille O’Neal mentioned that Ming was the first guy who forced him to change his game plan. He also was the first player to get the ball, turn it around, look at Shaq in the face and shoot the ball over him. According to the man himself, Ming was a challenging figure to deal with even for world-class players.

Yao Ming: The First Chinese Superstar in the NBA and the guy who Shaquille O’Neal was scared of

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Yao Ming was the NBA’s first superstar from China and right from the start, the American media began to hype him up. In the 2002 NBA draft, he was selected as the number one overall pick by the Houston Rockets.

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If not for his injuries, Yao Ming could have become one of the greats. Despite that, he was one of the most well-known faces in the NBA. Ming was an 8-time All-Star and had been selected to the All-NBA team five times. During his peak, he averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds.

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He popularised the game in his home country of China. Today, he is the president of the Chinese Basketball Association due to his contributions to the game in the country.

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Written by:

Aditya Kar

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Aditya Kar is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. A holder of Bachelors and Masters degrees in History, he has been a fan of the NBA since 2011. He has a very keen interest in the stories that define the league and the sport.
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Edited by:

Veer Badani