"You spoiled m***f***r, this is pressure! Pressure is when you don’t know where your next meal coming from" - Shaquille O'Neal reveals lesson his step-father gave him to overcome NBA pressure

Shaquille O'Neal came into the NBA in the 1992 season as the most dominant and freakishly athletic big man out of college. Shaq made it into the All-Star team in his first season, becoming the first player to achieve the feat since Michael Jordan in 1985.

But before finding his groove in the NBA, Shaquille O'Neal struggled to live up to his own expectations and the expectations of those around him. On an episode of The Pivot, the three-time finals MVP revealed a lifelong lesson his late stepfather taught him to overcome basketball pressure.

Here’s Shaq detailing a precious gem from the man who brought him up:

“So when I get to the house, we ride and he [Harrison] not sayin nothing in the car and I see a homeless family. And what he does every time he goes that route, he give them some money to eat, so we just sit there lookin and he don’t say nothin.”

He added:

“And he said, ‘You spoiled m****f****r, this is pressure! Pressure is when you don’t know where your next meal coming from. I don’t ever wanna hear you say you can’t handle the pressure again. It’s f***n' basketball. Get out!’”

The conversation between Shaquille O'Neal and the late Sgt. Philip Harrison happened because, to Shaq’s admission, he “stunk up the gym” against the New York Knicks. On November 21, 1992, during the “Big Diesel’s” rookie season, the Orlando Magic visited the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. It was Shaq’s debut on the “Mecca of basketball.”

Shaquille O'Neal’s numbers were amazing for a rookie. He was tied for a game-high 44 minutes and finished with 18 points, 17 rebounds, two assists, one steal and three blocks.

However, the rookie out of LSU also had seven turnovers and often looked lost against Patrick Ewing. New York drubbed Orlando in that game, which was a big reason why O’Neal looked at himself as a failure in that game.

On Sgt. Harrison's order, Shaq got out of the car and took care of the homeless family his step-father used as an example. After doing as asked, he eventually reached this conclusion:

“‘That’s right, m****f***r, he had to take care of his family, he don’t know where his next meal coming from. If I don’t come around he don’t get that.’ And after that, I never felt the pressure again.”

“Superman” would finish his rookie campaign averaging 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 3.5 blocks per game. He went on to win the Rookie of the Year award and put the NBA on notice that he would be a force to contend with.

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Shaquille O'Neal admits to being intimidated by Patrick Ewing

Shaquille O'Neal was intimidated by Patrick Ewing when the former was in his rookie season. [Photo: Sports Illustrated]

This season, the NBA is celebrating its 75th Anniversary and came up with a list of the top 75 players in its storied history. One of those who got the nod was former New York Knicks legend Patrick Ewing. Ewing was at the peak of his career when Shaquille O'Neal first played in the NBA.

Here’s how Shaq was influenced and impacted by Patrick Ewing:

“When I was coming up, my father always said, ‘Hey! I’m going to make you like Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain’. And as a youngster, I used to practice these old-school moves, really old-school moves. And then one day I was watching Patrick Ewing in Georgetown.”

He added:

“Big guy, mean, physical, throwing people around, running the court. I said ‘Dad, I want to be like him and he said, ‘I know, this is why I got you watching the game’.”

In the end, Shaq also revealed the reason for him badly messing up in his first matchup with Ewing:

“As I became better, I wanted to be like Patrick Ewing. He was the first guy that when I played against him, I was actually intimidated.”

O'Neal, who was a 3x Finals MVP and one-time MVP, was also included in the top 75 players in NBA history.

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