Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal has four NBA championships under his belt, but he believes he could've gotten one more when he was with the Orlando Magic.
In an interview with Sunday TODAY’s Willie Geist back in April, Shaq admitted that he celebrated too early during the 1995 playoffs after his Magic took down Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls in the second round.
“I broke a rule. You celebrated too early. Because we beat Michael Jordan. Which nobody has ever done. Who’s the last guy to beat Michael Jordan in the playoffs? Nobody. So we beat him, I’m partying like a mug, ‘cause in my mind, I already had the championship won,” O'Neal said.
“I was already celebrating, we already had a little mini parade at Disney and I was like, ‘we’re going to be these dudes in six’ and then Hakeem put it on me. But, before you succeed you must first land, so what that taught me was, if I ever get back to the Finals, nobody will ever beat me again.”
That year, Orlando beat the Bulls in the Eastern Conference semifinals four games to two. They went on to advance to the NBA Finals to face the Houston Rockets. Unfortunately, they got swept and lost.
Nonetheless, even if O'Neal kept his focus until the Finals, there's no telling if the Magic would've taken out the Rockets. A lot of people still believe that the Hakeem Olajuwon-led Houston is the only team that had a legitimate chance to beat the Bulls in the Finals.
Well, at least Shaq eventually got his rings with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat.
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