National Basketball Association

Shaq and Yao loom large

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Shaquille O’Neal and Yao Ming are big. So big, in fact, that Shaq had to help Yao put on his official Hall of Fame blazer at Thursday’s induction press conference because John Doleva, President of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, wasn’t tall enough to reach Yao’s shoulders. No one else in the room had the wingspan for the job.

The legacies of both Shaq and Yao are largely defined by size — big bodies, big stats, big smiles, big personalities, big hearts. Although the two giants only met 13 times during their regular season careers, as well as a five-game playoff series in 2004, their commonalities and their relationship on and off the court have served to intertwine their stories. This weekend, they will enter the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame together.

At the Hall of Fame press conference on Thursday, both players talked about how the connections between them were built. Yao talked about entering the league with respect for O’Neal, saying, “I always respected him. When you come into the league at the time I did, as a big man, you have to respect him because he was the best in the league. But he is a great guy off the court, too, more than just a great player.”

Shaq acknowledged that even for himself, one of the biggest centers in the league, Yao’s size still made him a difficult matchup.

“The first time I played against Yao, he blocked me three times in a row,” O’Neal said. “And then, you can’t stop Yao. You just have to stay in front of him and just hope he misses. He’d get it and he’d look at you, and then he’d shoot it over you. You’d have to, like, really jump to block it, and you still could never block it. He was probably my toughest matchup.”

Shaq also shared an unbelievable story, which may unbeliveable because it wasn’t true, about receiving letters from Yao as a child — letters that Shaq’s father supposedly used to teach him a lesson about respecting those who look up to him. Setting aside concerns about veracity, the story illustrates the way the two complement each other — Yao’s quiet humility a moderating side-dish for Shaq’s boisterous confidence.