Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic beat Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, but what they did next cost them a championship.
The dominance of the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s cannot be understated. The men in red, black, and white were perhaps the greatest dynasty the NBA has ever seen.
Throughout the decade, the Bulls tore through the NBA, winning six NBA championships, including two three-peats.
They were so dominant that there were only two teams to beat them in a seven-game playoff series in the decade. The first being the 1990 Detroit Pistons, who went on to win the NBA championship.
The other team was the Orlando Magic, led by a young Shaquille O’Neal. Unfortunately for the Magic, though, they didn’t win a championship after the win because of a big mistake they made.
Photo credit should read VINCENT LAFORET/AFP via Getty ImagesShaquille O’Neal says Orlando Magic got complacent after beating Chicago Bulls
Shaquille O’Neal spoke recently on Dax Shepard’s ‘Armchair Expert’ podcast. When discussing the Orlando Magic’s 1995 win over the Chicago Bulls, O’Neal lamented the aftermath.
While the win over the Bulls was sensational, Shaq believes the Magic got too complacent afterwards. The Magic partied and celebrated too much, and it would cost them heavily.
“It was a great moment, but it was also a teaching moment. When you beat ‘God’, you think the job is done. Then you realize in Greek mythology, there are other Gods.
“We beat Mike, then we were in neutral, partying, gentleman’s clubs, parades, it was just too much.”
The Orlando Magic were defeated by the Houston Rockets in the 1995 NBA Finals. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the wounded kings of the NBA would exact their vengeance next season.
Michael Jordan would get his revenge the following season
The complacency that Shaquille O’Neal referenced above carried into the 1995-96 NBA season. And when the Magic faced the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs, things were drastically different.
The Bulls dominated the Magic, sweeping them in the first round. Michael Jordan had a year to work on his body, getting back into peak basketball shape and conditioning.
And after a disappointing loss the year before, Jordan had revenge on his mind. That’s exactly what he and the Bulls got, making quick work of the Magic en route to the NBA championship.
To be fair to the Magic, they lost to what many consider the greatest NBA team of all time. The 1995-96 Bulls went a then-NBA-record 72-10 in the regular season, with Jordan winning the MVP award.
But the loss proved to be devastating, as it would be the final appearance of Shaquille O’Neal as a Magic star. He would join the LA Lakers the following summer, where he would form his own dynasty.