"I would have been sucking through a straw" - Brad Miller recalls how Shaquille O'Neal almost took his head off with a haymaker
Brad Miller was a 6-foot-11, no-nonsense big man who played 14 seasons in the NBA. However, the trajectory of the two-time All-Star’s career would have drastically changed had Shaquille O’Neal connected on the right-handed haymaker he threw toward Miller’s head during a ferocious in-game scuffle between the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers in January 2002.
Fortunately for the Indiana native, Shaq’s accuracy regarding punches was just as bad as his notorious free-throw shooting, and Miller was fortunately able to duck out of the way. But the incident left a lasting impression on him. In an interview with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on “All The Smoke,” Brad recalled the moment when Shaquille attempted to take his head off.
Miller didn’t hit Shaq hard but got the latter’s wrath
According to Brad’s recounting of that play, O'Neal had gotten a prime position inside the shaded lane and was getting ready to make a move at the basket. But rather than let the iconic big man get an easy layup or dunk, Miller tried to hold Shaq’s arms down to keep him from getting a shot up while Bulls forward Charles Oakley clubbed him up top.
“Sh**, he can't make free throws. Simple, so foul the fu** out of him, don't let him dunk on you, right? It’s easy to do. And it was Oakley that actually beat the sh** out of him and me, that's why I was walking away,” Miller said.
The big man with the soft touch from the outside added that he was the victim of friendly fire from Oakley, who also hit him as he was trying to foul 'The Diesel.'
“Oakley came over the top, and he hit me in my ear. That’s why I was walking away like, ‘God damn it, Oak,’” Miller continued.
Recommended Articles
Unbeknownst to the product of Purdue, an enraged Shaquille was coming for him with a right fist that had bad intentions written all over it.
“Somehow I turn like this and literally Shaq’s big a** rainmaker, can't hit nobody, we know, like a free-throw, just barely nicked the fu** out of my ear, and then by the time I turned—shit, you got Metta (World-Peace), everyone was in there,” Miller recalled. “I’m like literally underneath the tunnel of Bulls players, and I don’t even know what the hell is going on at this point, and Shaq’s got my jersey, but there's like four dudes on top of me, they’re pulling me out by the legs.”
Fortunate that Shaq missed
Miller was relieved that Shaquille missed his punch, or the consequences could have been severe. O'Neal, known for his physicality and strength on the basketball court, was not someone to mess with.
“I would have been sucking through a straw. I mean, that might have been his fullest swing,” Brad added.
Shaq, though, admitted that he was out for blood on that play.
“I didn't wanna hit him on the back, but as soon as he turns to the side, I wanted to bust his eardrums up, that's all. I wanted him to hear f****** tweety birds for the rest of his life,” Shaquille divulged.
O'Neal was a behemoth that the NBA had never seen before. Usually, a cool customer despite the hard fouls he often received, that incident was the rare moment he blew his top. Fortunately for all parties involved, nobody got hurt, and a few seasons later, Shaquille and Miller buried the hatchet during the All-Star Game.
