UPDATE: On November 20th of 2016, the NBA finally uploaded footage from this game.
ORIGINAL POST: I don’t know why or how, but I have four VHS tapes of just early to mid-90s Orlando Magic footage of Shaq, but NO footage from his great and forgotten performance on November 20th of 1993: 24 points, 28 rebounds (yes, 28), and 15 blocks (YES, 15!)…in three quarters…with a cold!
Even more mind-boggling is the fact that there are over 889,000 videos of Shaq on YouTube and NO footage of the 2nd-season center destroying the Nets.
“I guess I played OK,” said O’Neal after the game. “The change in weather bothers me. It’s hard to play in one city where it’s 40 degrees and the next, where it’s 80. I knew I had a few blocks, but I didn’t realize I had 15. But if we had lost, it wouldn’t have meant anything.”
He knew he had a “few.”
Whatever Shaq.
The 15 blocks are a franchise record and tied for second with Manute Bol for most in NBA history. The 28 rebounds were a franchise record until 2013 when Nikola Vucevic broke it (in OT) with 29.
What many youngsters who only know Shaq from his Lakers and “lazy” twilight years don’t know is that Shaq was one of the premier shot blockers and rebounders in the league. He was actually second — only to Dennis “nothing else to do but rebound” Rodman — in the league in total rebounds for four of his first five years and was second in blocks per game during his rookie season.
Due to constant foul trouble during his rookie campaign and the Magic’s desire for him to score more, O’Neal had to chill on defense a little so he could stay on the court and score more. The result of this change was Shaq went from ninth to second in scoring in his second season and led the NBA in scoring during his third season.
Since this was all before social media, YouTube, and championships in LA with Kobe, it’s all but forgotten. But not as forgotten as the most impressive triple-double of the past two decades.
(The funny thing about this card is that they didn’t even use a photo from the right game)
SHAQ VS THE NETS
Shaq is so proud to be from Newark, New Jersey, that he even made a song about his hometown with the great Keith Murray.
I flip my style like a pancake flipper
dive-dive dipper
let me pull up my zipper
I’m sick and tired of pissin’ on this track
Newark represents lovely
Redman and the Shaq
His “Welcome to the league” moment came during his first game against the New Jersey Nets. That moment is when NBA All-Star forward Derrick Coleman threw down a left-hand dunk on Shaq and gave him a finger wag before Mutombo did the finger wag.
Derrick Coleman talking about his dunk on Shaq: “I drove that b***h & banged it on his motherf****g head.” pic.twitter.com/fe8KWogyhn https://t.co/jgXRX3KmDn
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 4, 2025
“I didn’t know he dunked it until the ball hit my face,” Said Shaq on OPEN COURT. “When I turned around to him, he wagged his finger in front of everybody.
I looked up at my mom and dad (places hand on his face) and then went to the bench with a little tear in my eye. I was so mad.”
Shaq vowed never to get posterized again and to get some revenge every time he played the Nets.
He did get “dunked on” a few more times (he only claims two: Tim Perry and Michael Jordan), but kept his word about revenge.
- (1993) Breaks the backboard in New Jersey. The NBA introduced “Shaq-proof rims” after the season.
- (1993) Records one of the best triple-doubles in NBA history: 24 points, 28 rebounds, 15 blocks in 36 minutes.
- (1998) 50 points (18/26 FG, 14/20 FT)
- (2002) Averages 36.3 points (59% FG), 12.3 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks as the Lakers swept the Nets in the NBA Finals.
I once tweeted about Shaq’s revenge and how it all started because of the DC dunk. Shaq’s reply to me: “You are so correct.”
MORE DOMINANCE OVER THE NETS
23 YEARS AGO TODAY
Nick @VanExel31 put on a passing clinic while @Shaq dominated the Nets with 50 PTS (18/26 FG). pic.twitter.com/PLU97Vlriv— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) April 2, 2021
NCAA TRIPLE DOUBLE WITH 11 BLOCKS
Some of his best games at LSU
- 53 PTS, 19 REB (18/26 FG)
- 43 PTS, 19 REB, 8 BLK
- 31 PTS, 21 REB, 10 BLK
- 20 PTS, 24 REB, 12 BLK
SHAQ’S NEAR QUADRUPLE DOUBLE