The United States dominated the international basketball scene in the 1990s. While there were good teams like Croatia and Russia, their play wasn’t on the same level as that of France, Serbia and Canada today.
During the 1994 World Championship in Toronto, winning the gold medal wasn’t a big deal. However, managing the star-studded team that would eventually be remembered as Dream Team II was. And it was a job that fell on the shoulders of that team’s head coach, Don Nelson.
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With a roster that featured the best of the best in the U.S. basketball scene, such as Alonzo Mourning, Mark Price, Dominique Wilkins, Shawn Kemp and Derrick Coleman, Nellie knew he had his work cut out for him.
Forging chemistry in the little time they had was one challenge; another was ensuring everyone was relatively satisfied with the minutes they were getting. Fortunately for Nellie, one player stepped up and made his job a lot easier: Shaquille O’Neal. This led to the quirky coach labelling Diesel as the most important player on that team.
Shaq didn’t mind coming off the bench
At that time, O’Neal was coming off a sensational rookie season, during which he averaged 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds and 3.5 blocks. His efforts resulted in him becoming an All-Star and, later on, the Rookie of the Year. That said, he could have demanded a starting spot on the team, but he didn’t. Instead, he had no problem coming off the bench and let Nelson know about it.
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In a game against Australia in the quarterfinal round, with O’Neal riding the pine, the Aussies hung around with the Americans in the first half and were down by only 14 at halftime. Sensing trouble, Nelson unleashed the Orlando Magic big man in the second half, resulting in a dominant 130-74 win.
“He actually asked to come off the bench,” he shared. “Which solved any sort of problems that I had with egos. Because then I could start Mourning and bring him off the bench, and everybody else just got right into line.”
Shaq knew he had to make sacrifices
Even though Shaq was still in his early 20s, he already understood that in order for their stacked team to achieve tremendous success, sacrifices needed to be made. And if that meant him playing fewer minutes and shooting fewer shots, then so be it. He was willing to do whatever it took to win.
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“I didn’t really go in with the mindset ‘Hey, I’m taking over. I’m the new sh—t,” Shaq explained. “I never had that.”
Nelson also heaped praise on his young big man for helping keep everyone stay focused on the task at hand, and, at the same time, loose enough to crack a smile when needed.
“Shaq was our leader. He set the tone,” Nelson declared. “He kept everyone committed, but loose, too. His Shaq Fu stuff was out then, and he always had jokes. But it was playful in the right way because when the games started, boy, was he dominant.”
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“And I also always had the issue of minutes when dealing with a team that talented, and he even helped in that way by volunteering to come off the bench some games. He really made my job easier,” he added.
Shaq finished that tournament averaging 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds, a far cry from his usual numbers in the NBA. However, he more than made up for it with his unmistakable presence, unselfishness and solid leadership.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 31, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.