Shaq and Nick Anderson Trash Talking Michael Jordan And It Went VERY Wrong… STORY!

There are some rules in basketball that aren’t written in any playbook. One of the biggest? **Don’t talk trash to Michael Jordan.** Shaquille O’Neal and Nick Anderson learned this the hard way, and the story of what happened next is the stuff of NBA legend.

It was January 16, 1993. Shaq was still a rookie—young, powerful, and already making waves in the league. He’d never faced anyone like Michael Jordan before. The Orlando Magic were in Chicago to play the Bulls, and the United Center was electric with anticipation. The crowd roared every time MJ touched the ball; his presence was almost supernatural, like a storm brewing just above the court.

Shaq remembered that first time he stepped onto the floor against Jordan. “I was terrified,” he later admitted. “That’s Jordan, bro. That’s your idol. You don’t want to be on the wrong end of a highlight.” But Shaq was never one to back down. He was a giant—both in stature and in spirit—and he wanted to prove himself.

The game tipped off, and Jordan was, as always, locked in. He hit fadeaways, spun baseline, and scored at will. Every move was met with a chorus of cheers. Shaq, meanwhile, was doing everything he could to keep up. He blocked shots, grabbed rebounds, and even managed to muscle in a few dunks over the Bulls’ big men. But every time Shaq looked over, there was Jordan, eyes cold, tongue out, calculating.

Early in the game, Shaq almost blocked one of Jordan’s shots. For a split second, he felt like he’d gotten the better of the legend. He thought, “He’s a god, but I’m closer to god.” That confidence was contagious, and soon, Nick Anderson—Shaq’s Magic teammate—started chirping too.

Nick was never shy with his words. He saw Jordan wearing number 45 instead of his iconic 23—MJ had just returned from his baseball hiatus and hadn’t yet reclaimed his old number. Nick couldn’t resist. After a key play, he leaned over and said, “45 ain’t 23. 23 was the real deal. You? You’re just not the same.”

It was meant as playful banter, but in the NBA, words are weapons. Especially when aimed at Michael Jordan.

That night, Jordan scored 64 points. Sixty-four. He made shot after shot, each one more impossible than the last. The Magic players tried everything—double teams, hard fouls, trash talk—but nothing worked. Jordan just kept coming, relentless, merciless, as if every word Anderson and Shaq had said was fuel for his fire.

After the game, the Magic locker room was quiet. Shaq slumped in his chair, towel over his head, sweat still dripping. Nick tried to laugh it off, but the truth hung heavy in the air: they’d poked the bear, and the bear had mauled them.

But the story didn’t end there.

A couple of years later, the Magic and the Bulls met again—this time in the playoffs. Jordan was back in form, but he was still wearing 45. In Game 1, with seconds left and the Bulls up by one, Nick Anderson stripped the ball from MJ, leading to a fast break and a Magic win. After the game, Nick couldn’t help himself. “45 isn’t 23,” he told reporters. “23, he used to soar like a space shuttle. 45? He revs up, but he’s not nearly as explosive.”

The quote made headlines. Shaq, for his part, tried to stay humble. He respected Jordan too much to add fuel to the fire, but even he couldn’t help feeling a little swagger. They’d beaten the Bulls, and the Magic looked unstoppable.

But Michael Jordan was listening.

Game 2 arrived, and with it, a different Jordan. He walked onto the court wearing number 23 again. The league fined him for the unapproved switch, but it didn’t matter. Jordan dropped 38 points, moving with a fury that left no doubt: 23 was back, and he was out for revenge.

The series went back and forth, but the Magic managed to eliminate the Bulls. For the first time in years, Jordan was sent home in the playoffs. Shaq and Nick celebrated, but deep down, they knew they’d awoken something dangerous.

The next season, Jordan returned with a vengeance. He spent the summer training, thinking about nothing but the Magic. When the Bulls met Orlando in the playoffs again, it was a massacre. Jordan was everywhere—steals, dunks, mid-range jumpers, trash talk of his own. The Bulls swept the Magic, and after the final game, Jordan found Shaq and Nick. He put his hand on Nick’s shoulder and said quietly, “Before you succeed, you must first learn to fail.”

Shaq would never forget those words. “I didn’t know what that meant at first,” he said years later. “But that summer, I thought about it. MJ went through it too—he lost to Detroit before he became the champ. All the greats fail before they succeed.”

It was a lesson in humility, in greatness, and in the unbreakable will of Michael Jordan. Shaq went on to win championships of his own, and Nick Anderson played for years, but neither ever forgot what happened when they talked trash to MJ.

**The moral?** Never give the greatest of all time extra motivation. Because if you do, you might just end up on the wrong side of history—and in one of his highlight reels forever.

“Michael Jordan did exactly what he said he’d do to Nick Anderson”: Shaquille O’Neal reminisces over how MJ trash talked and laid out his former Magic teammate

Shaquille O’Neal loved how Michael Jordan trash talked and dominated his Orlando Magic teammate Nick Anderson, despite the results.

Shaq and MJ played each other in 2 playoff series in successive years. The dominant center led the Magic to a sweep of the Bulls in 1995, but MJ got back at the budding MVP with a sweep of his own in 1996.

The two had some engaging battles and differing styles of dominance. Shaq had steadily risen to the same status in offensive terms as Jordan. He was un freakin guardable by his second season in the league, just like Mike had been.

Shaq talked about the showdown between Nick Anderson and MJ in one of their battles during a 2012 appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.

Shaquille O’Neal lays down exactly how Michael Jordan put Nick Anderson in his place

The Bulls’ 1995-96 season was one in which the Jumpman unleashed his vengeance on the league like never before. They won 72 games and went 15-3 in the playoffs, compiling the single greatest overall team season in league history.

This also featured the Bulls humbling the Magic, and Jordan getting revenge on Nick Anderson. Shaq talks about how MJ’s trash talk affected his team’s fortunes in this appearance:

“Jordan never really trash talked me personally, but he did go after a teammate. One time when I was on the Orlando Magic, he told me what he was going to do to Nick Anderson.”

“’I’m coming down, I’m going to dribble it between my legs twice. I’m going to pump fake, and then I’m going to shoot a jumper. And then I’m going to look at you.’ And that’s exactly what he did.”