Beating Michael Jordan in the playoffs during the 1990s? Just about as rare as a solar eclipse.
The man won 25 of his final 26 postseason series with the Chicago Bulls. But that one loss?
It came at the hands of a young, dominant Shaquille O’Neal and his Orlando Magic in 1995-and Shaq hasn’t let anyone forget it.
Appearing on expediTIously with Tip “T.I.” Harris, O’Neal didn’t shy away from reminding the world of that rare feat.
“I’m the last guy to beat MJ,” Shaq said. “I win thousands of dollars in all barber shops… Listen, Mike is the GOAT, but I’m the last one to beat him.
And then they always say, ‘Well, that’s when he wore 45.’ I don’t give a [expletive] what he wore.
He was on the court.”
And he’s not wrong. Jordan was back on the hardwood, wearing No. 45 instead of his iconic 23, but still very much Michael Jordan.
After a brief baseball detour following his first three-peat, MJ returned to the Bulls late in the 1994-95 season. The comeback was electric, but understandably rusty-he played just 17 regular-season games that year, averaging 26.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game.
Solid by mortal standards, but not quite peak Jordan.
Still, when the playoffs rolled around, it looked like the old MJ was back. He dropped 48 points in Game 1 of the first-round series against the Charlotte Hornets and helped the Bulls dispatch them in four games. Next up: a showdown with Shaq and the Magic in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Game 1 was a wake-up call. Jordan scored just 19 points, and the Bulls lost 94-91.
That’s when he switched back to No. 23-literally changing jerseys mid-playoff run-and responded with 38 points in Game 2 to even the series. He followed that with a 40-point performance in Game 3, but it wasn’t enough.
The Bulls lost again, and the momentum started to shift.
Despite Jordan averaging 31.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game in the series, the Bulls couldn’t get past Orlando. It wasn’t vintage Jordan-certainly not the same guy who torched the Suns for 41.0 points per game in the 1993 Finals-but he was still a force. The Magic, however, had the edge.
Shaq was a monster in that series, putting up 24.3 points, 13.2 boards, 4.0 assists, 1.0 steal, and 2.0 blocks per game. He and Penny Hardaway led Orlando to a six-game series win, handing Jordan his only playoff series loss after his first retirement. That alone is enough to give Shaq lifetime bragging rights in barbershops across the country.
But the story didn’t end there.
Orlando’s run would stall out in the Finals, where they were swept by the defending champion Houston Rockets. It was a bitter end to a breakout postseason, but the Magic didn’t disappear. They came back the next season with a vengeance, finishing 60-22 and steamrolling through the Eastern Conference playoffs-until they ran into a very different Bulls team.
By 1996, Jordan was all the way back. The Bulls had reloaded with Dennis Rodman, and they were locked in.
Chicago went 72-10 in the regular season, setting a new NBA record at the time, and they didn’t just beat the Magic-they swept them in the Eastern Conference Finals. This time, Jordan finished the job, leading the Bulls past the Seattle SuperSonics in six games to claim his fourth championship.
That kicked off another three-peat, with titles in 1997 and 1998. Jordan retired again after the ’98 Finals, ending one of the most dominant runs in NBA history. Though he returned for two more seasons with the Wizards starting in 2001, he never made it back to the postseason.
So yes, Shaq has every right to bring up that 1995 series. It’s a rare notch in the belt-one that no other player or team could claim during Jordan’s championship years. But even Shaq, as proud as he is of that moment, knows the bigger picture.
During the podcast, he named Jordan among the five players who inspired him the most, alongside Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Stephen Curry. Of those five, only Curry didn’t make Shaq’s personal top 10 all-time list.
That’s the respect Jordan commands, even from the few who managed to get the better of him. Shaq may have handed MJ his only playoff loss during the Bulls dynasty era, but in the end, it was Jordan who had the last word-and the last ring.