Would you ever describe Michael Jordan as “little”? Now, this word and the name are like oil and water. “Little” comes across a bit odd for the NBA champ who dominated the pro basketball league in the ’90s. He won six championship titles with the Bulls. So, when we think of Jordan, we think of legend, mighty, powerful, undefeatable, and so much more. So what made the two TNT colleagues Shaquille O’Neal and Chuck who played against Jordan refer to him as “little,” of all qualities? Jordan hasn’t even ever felt intimidated by anyone, or has he?

The first to come head-to-head against Jordan is Charles Barkley. One of the most intense battles was in the 1993 NBA Finals when the Phoenix Suns faced the Bulls. The 76ers legend recently detailed his experience of playing against the Chicago Bulls legend and the challenges he faced. But before Barkley, his TNT colleague made a similar comment on international television!

The Los Angeles Lakers legend had traveled to South Korea in 2015. Why? Well, it was to promote the apparel brand Reebok. As part of the promotion, he also joined the Korean television show, Off to School. Now, this is where it gets interesting as the highlight of the show is several celebrities attend school again for a brief period of time.

The 4x NBA champ clearly had fun playing the student role in high school in Incheon. And the kids were equally excited, asking him lots of questions. One of the kids asked him about Jordan. To this, the 7’1″ player had a unique response. He said he isn’t compared with Jordan because of his height. “No, they don’t compare me to Michael Jordan. They only compare me to the big guys. Michael is a little guy so he is compared to Kobe,” Shaq said. And Shaq wasn’t the only guest in high school in Incheon. MMA artist, Shun Akiyama was also present. 

We heard something similar in the latest interview with Chuck on The Dan Patrick Show. Recalling the time when he guarded Jordan, Chuck said, “He is too little. He can’t guard me in the post. He’s too little.”

And as for whether Jordan ever felt intimidated by anyone, it looks like it might actually be true.

Why did Michael Jordan feel “intimidated” by Shaquille O’Neal?

It’s often common for Jordan’s rivals to have admitted feeling fear when battling against the 6× NBA champ. Teams sometimes had unspoken rules to not mess with Jordan and avoid angering him, as His Airness would make up for it by dropping a 50-point performance. However, the Bulls legend made the shocking confession of an instance when he felt intimidated by a player.

In a conversation with Slam back in 2013, MJ acknowledged that O’Neal’s towering stature initially intimidated him. He was shocked to see how tall the former NBA player was. However, he revealed that it didn’t last very long.

“(Last time) that I was intimidated in basketball? When I first saw Shaquille. How big he is. I mean, that was a short intimidation factor, but [laughs] I just couldn’t fathom how big he was,” Jordan said. He further said that he does feel a bit intimidated when he is playing a different sport against a pro. 

But it’s rare. “I mean, I’m intimidated by guys in other fields. Sure, ’cause that’s their profession. And if I’m trying to play their profession, sure, I’ve gotta be intimidated. But in basketball? Uh-uh,” Jordan said.

And well, even if it was a brief moment, O’Neal is the only one who was able to intimidate Jordan. MJ’s close friend, Buzz Peterson, detailed one rare event when the Bulls legend felt intimidated by a football player. It was Lawrence Taylor. While MJ never made any comment on this, Peterson shared that he felt his friend was intimidated whenever he played basketball with Taylor (as per The Athletic).

While these stories are truly riveting, they don’t change the fact that MJ himself was one of the most intimidating players and that, backed with his power-packed performance, is what made him great.