The NBA has seen a huge list of talented players making their mark in the league. Michael Jordan entered in 1984 and simply continued from where he left off in his University. His feats earned him the Rookie of the Year award. Another extraordinary player to have made a great impact was Shaquille O’Neal. He joined eight years after MJ came in, but also enjoyed immense success in his career. 

Playing as a teammate with these two legends would have surely taught you a lot about the game. MJ and Shaq were determined to win, and they were never shy of expressing their thoughts. Big man Shaq used his height and strong figure to terrorize his opponents on the court. The Jumpman, on the other hand, was vicious. You didn’t want to wake him up. The entire NBA knew that if Jordan was up and running, there was nothing that could stop him.

Penny Hardaway and Scott Burrell had the honor of being teammates with Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan, respectively. While Penny Hardaway shared the locker room with Shaq for four years at Orlando Magic, Burrell spent one year under the leadership of Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls.

Scott Burrell talks about being teammates with Michael Jordan

Scott Burrell and Hardaway joined ‘UNINTERRUPTED’ for a video chat recently. Towards the end of the discussion, they were both asked what it was like to play with “figures who were bigger than the game.”

“Off the court, it is nothing like it,” Burrell began. “I’m playing with MJ in every hotel you have thousands of people. Every hotel you stayed in, it was like crazy. It was like a rock band for sure.” But there was more to being MJ’s teammate than filled up arenas and fans lining up to get a glimpse of the superstar. 

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When playing alongside MJ, you should be prepared to never let him down. If you’re his teammate, be there for him when the opponents come calling. According to Burrell, “People were not gonna say I beat Chicago Bulls and Scott Burrell or Steve Kerr. They’re not saying that. They are coming at MJ. So if you don’t do your job to help him and back him and make his job easier, you failed.”

Burrell mentioned that there’s one thing he realized when playing in the NBA for the Bulls. The first job was to play for the team and the jersey you’re wearing. The second most important part was to do it for MJ, and no one else. 

Penny Hardaway on how the NBA reacted to Shaquille O’Neal

For the 48-year-old Hardaway, playing alongside Shaq was a phenomenal experience. He knew everything he had to do, right from Day 1. The Big Diesel understood his weaknesses and worked on them to outdo his opponents. 

“The thin Shaq that played in Orlando was the fastest runner down the court that I’ve ever seen,” Hardaway said. “I was so amazed at watching him like, this guy just understands that he needs to be the first one down the floor. Secondly, he was always trying to find ways to get better.”

Mentioning his ability to jump on his weakness and overturn them, Hardaway turned to Shaq’s behavior and reception off-the-court. “Off-the-court, everybody loved Shaq. Going to the hotels, it might have not been as many people as MJ, but it was a ton of people everywhere we went. And in every arena it was always packed to see him play.”

However, whatever they tried to do to him, he remained unbreakable. Hardaway could not believe his eyes when he saw the young man doing all the crazy stuff on the court.  He did also have something to say about this personality though. “The funniest dude, always joking and the biggest kid on the team.”