RealGM

Shaq's ego is out of control. He ruined the entire TNT show because he's always trying to make himself looks more important than Barkley and the rest of the crew. He's always downplaying other big men in the league and setting certain standards of the type of stats they should put up, ect.

Jordan was more quiet about his arrogance presumably for marketing purposes. I remember that people were shocked when the Jordan Rules book came out and MJ was such an ass

Shaq is just annoying and can't take a joke to save his life. I can't stand him on TNT

Shaq is way more sensitive thats for sure

No, Jordan has the absolute biggest ego of any basketball player ever.

For those who haven't read "Michael Jordan has not left the building", its one of the best sports articles ive ever read. Check it out: http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/page/Mi ... t-building

I quote the article, which quotes MJ:

It was down in Florida, where he was spending time with Yvette's Cuban family, that he got a taste of the life he'd traded for the jet-set circus of modern celebrity. They weren't fawning -- her grandparents, who speak little English, aren't basketball fans -- and he sat at a dinner table, with people laughing and eating home-cooked food. That's what it was like growing up in Wilmington. "It's gone," he says. "I can't get it back. My ego is so big now that I expect certain things. Back then, you didn't."

another telling story:

In the late '80s, Jordan looked in Whitfield's closet and saw that half of it was filled with Nike and the other half filled with Puma. Jordan bundled the Puma gear in his arms, tossing it onto the living room floor. He took a knife from the kitchen and cut it to shreds. Call Howard White, his contact at Nike, he told Fred, and tell him to replace it all. Same thing happened with George. He bought a pair of New Balance shoes he loved, and Jordan saw them one day and insisted he hand them over. Call Howard White at Nike.

"He demands that loyalty," Whitfield says.

"Anywhere we go," Portnoy says, "he looks at people's feet."

"First thing he looks at," Whitfield says. "He looks down all the time."

Shaq certainly has a huge ego (which NBA superstar doesn't?) but I think his antics are more showmanship and entertainment than ego.

All Shaq proved to me on TNT was this guy has a HUGE ego and he isn't as funny as he likes to put himself out to be. Way to ruin Inside the NBA Shaq...

To answer the OP's question, I don't think that there is anyone in NBA history that has a bigger ego than Shaq.

I think MJ's ego was related a lot to the game. He just wanted to be a winner.

Shaq was all personal. He wanted everything to be about himself. He made some disgusting comments about other people and never let it go when people returned the favor.

MJ's ego worked to the benefit of his team, Shaq's to the detriment of his.

ardee wrote:I think MJ's ego was related a lot to the game. He just wanted to be a winner.

Shaq was all personal. He wanted everything to be about himself. He made some disgusting comments about other people and never let it go when people returned the favor.

MJ's ego worked to the benefit of his team, Shaq's to the detriment of his.

Wrong. Jordan made it personal. Beating you wasn't enough, he had to destroy you completely.

Like the story where he would challenge his teammate to $1,000 dollar shooting competitions, destroy him every time, and then trash-talk him for the rest of practice. Dude was never the same after that, and he was Jordan's TEAMMATE. Jordan also punched Kerr and Purdue in practice, and got the the point with Bill Cartwright where he told MJ: ""If Iever hear again that you're telling guys not to pass me the ball," Cartwright continued, "you will never play basketball again."

When did Shaq ever do anything like that?

ardee wrote:I think MJ's ego was related a lot to the game. He just wanted to be a winner.

Shaq was all personal. He wanted everything to be about himself. He made some disgusting comments about other people and never let it go when people returned the favor.

MJ's ego worked to the benefit of his team, Shaq's to the detriment of his.

I havent seen any Shaq comments as disgusting as Mjs

Michael Jordan was perhaps the most self-conscious player in NBA history.

But by playoff time of 1990, Cartwright`s knee was so wretched he couldn`t sit in a car for more than a few minutes with his knee bent. On the team bus to games, he`d have to lie flat in his seat. But he never talked to anyone about it or complained. He just went out and played, often poorly because of his limited mobility.

Jordan never saw any of that in the phlegmatic Cartwright, who Jackson says ``works harder than any other player I`ve ever come across.`` Cartwright once summed up his philosophy of the game by saying, ``You just play until there`s no game left in your uniform.``

Meanwhile, Jordan, knowing Cartwright was not a reflexively sharp athlete, would dart into the lane and shoot Cartwright a no-look pass. Invariably, it would bounce off Cartwright`s hands and go out of bounds.

``He`s causing me too many turnovers,`` Jordan would tell reporters, always making sure Cartwright could hear. Sometimes his passes would be just a little too hard and they would bounce out of bounds off Cartwright. And Jordan would shake his head and look toward then-coach Doug Collins disgustedly after a Cartwright mistake, stretching his arms out with his palms upward, as if saying, ``What more can I do?``

Cartwright refused to break. He might never truly earn the fans` respect, but he did come to gain the respect of the players. Around the Bulls, they began to call Cartwright ``Teach,`` as in teacher. In recognition of this, Jackson had named Cartwright co-captain (with Jordan) when the team returned home from its Western swing in November of the 1990-91 season.

``The coaches would always say that if you want to know how to get things done, you watch Bill Cartwright,`` said Jackson. ``He`s a skilled, veteran player in a clumsy body but with good skills.


``He`s got the best footwork on the team. We`d tell them to watch how he moves, how he gets position, how he moves his feet, his recognition of the offense. Everyone calls him `Teach.` I don`t think I`ve ever heard Michael call him that, though.``

Not likely. Jordan didn`t feel Cartwright could score a basket in an empty gym.

Cartwright didn`t actually much care what Jordan thought. Winning is all he thought about. He was no different if he scored 30 points or three: he believed in working hard, keeping your mouth shut and doing what you can for your team.

Jordan liked to belittle Cartwright in the locker room. He`d imitate Cartwright`s unorthodox shooting style with wild exaggerated moves that left many of his teammates trying to stifle laughter when Cartwright was nearby. Cartwright would just look away and blame immaturity.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991 ... race-grant

To be honest, he was just a stat-obsessed and egotistical locker-room problem during his early years in the NBA.

Not a chance. MJ has just about the biggest ego I've ever seen in the NBA.

And that's exactly what you want. Come on … what this means is that every time Michael Jordan stepped onto the basketball court, he thought he was the best player there. Every time. Nobody close. He didn't think anybody could stop him. He knew people would try and he was 2-3 steps ahead in terms of planning how to break them down on the court and break them mentally. You can't get a better mentality for the alpha player on the team. Shaq enjoyed dominating other players and taking over games, but it wasn't hard wired into him in the same way it was for MJ. The type of domination Michael Jordan sought and achieved was part of his basic personality. It has gotten him into trouble at times off the court. It made him one of the three greatest players of all time on the court.

Shaq was physically dominant in a way Jordan could never be. But the mental; aspect of it? The desire to push himself? Have a look at how many games Michael Jordan missed between his third season and the final championship Bulls season. Seven. Part of that was luck--but part of it was sheer fury and fear about missing games and losing his standing.

The point is that everyone agreed with Jordan's self-assessment because MJ essentially walked the walk. This made him kind of an a$$ as a person and teammate—but who do you want on your time? The nice guy, or the best player? Teammates forgave MJ because he was as hard on himself as he was on others. You don't have that kind of intensity without paying a price. Shaq had friends, and liked to buddy up to people. He's essentially a nice guy. Even when Shaq was/is mad at someone, his fury was/is nothing like Jordan's. People were surprised about some of the anger and cruelty and pettiness at his HOF induction speech. I wasn't. MJ was true to himself. He really is like that.

Side note—there are lots of other players that think/have thought they were unstoppable on the court, many of whom deserved to feel that way. Some were nice guys (Magic, Erving), some were trashtalkers (Bird), some kept it inside (West, Kareem). Some were simply a$$hats (Rick Barry comes to mind). But, IMO, all of them had a sense of achievement at being so good. Jordan had less of that sense than any other great player. I don't think any great player took less true joy in success than Michael Jordan. Sure he was satisfied...but that was, literally, what he expected of himself. He seemed to always feel threatened by even the thought of complacency; to maintain that level of intensity must have psychologically murderous. I can see how a baseball vacation—because that's what it was; a vacation—would be critical for the well-being—even sanity—of someone like that. Shaq is not like that at all.

i dunno, MJ is probably the biggest douche, a hole, ego maniac of all time. i mean granted hes the GOAT, but none the less, still a douche.

shaq is an ego maniac as well but not the extend of MJ, one thing that seperates shaq and MJ is mentality, shaqs an insecure bastard. MJ knows hes the GOAT shaq tells people how good he was because he is insecure.

atleast shaq is not an ego maniac to the point where hes delusional. he himself knows hes not as good as kareem or wilt.

Its interesting how Jordan's ego adds to the whole mystique, but Shaq's ego is seen as distasteful and destructive. There's some validity to those perceptions as well imo. Jordan pushed himself to be in a different league than everyone else, Shaq got lazy and coasted.

JNelson43 wrote:Its interesting how Jordan's ego adds to the whole mystique, but Shaq's ego is seen as distasteful and destructive.

It depends on how the ego is channeled. For instance, Bill Russell had a big ego, but it was channeled towards making his team better. Most times ego prevents people from recognizing what's in their best interest and they end up cutting off their nose to spite their face.

(And, no, Jordan's ego wasn't always in the best interest of the team his whole career.)

Jordan had a bigger ego. Shaq has a more fragile ego.

Stringcheese wrote:

ardee wrote:I think MJ's ego was related a lot to the game. He just wanted to be a winner.

Shaq was all personal. He wanted everything to be about himself. He made some disgusting comments about other people and never let it go when people returned the favor.

MJ's ego worked to the benefit of his team, Shaq's to the detriment of his.

Wrong. Jordan made it personal. Beating you wasn't enough, he had to destroy you completely.

Like the story where he would challenge his teammate to $1,000 dollar shooting competitions, destroy him every time, and then trash-talk him for the rest of practice. Dude was never the same after that, and he was Jordan's TEAMMATE. Jordan also punched Kerr and Purdue in practice, and got the the point with Bill Cartwright where he told MJ: ""If Iever hear again that you're telling guys not to pass me the ball," Cartwright continued, "you will never play basketball again."

When did Shaq ever do anything like that?

GSP wrote:

ardee wrote:I think MJ's ego was related a lot to the game. He just wanted to be a winner.

Shaq was all personal. He wanted everything to be about himself. He made some disgusting comments about other people and never let it go when people returned the favor.

MJ's ego worked to the benefit of his team, Shaq's to the detriment of his.

I havent seen any Shaq comments as disgusting as Mjs

"If the big dog doesn't get fed, he won't guard the house."

"I got injured on company time, so I'll heal on company time."

I think Shaq was a great player, so I'm not hating, but these kind of comments are far more damaging than anything MJ did. With MJ it was just about the game. With Shaq it was about putting himself before the team.

Reminds me of Jordan's hall of fame induction speech. lol

Run DLC wrote:He ruined the entire TNT show because he's always trying to make himself looks more important than Barkley and the rest of the crew.

This is extreme hyperbole.
Don't be so sensitive.

Yeah his occasional insecure ego tiffs with Barkley are annoying but they are infrequent and easily ignored.

Shaq has a great personality and in general is very funny. His chemistry with the others now is pretty good and I think he adds more to the show then he detracts from it.

If you can't ignore his occasional annoying tiffs then you probably shouldn't watch the show.
It isn't like the others don't do annoying things at times also.

He's always downplaying other big men in the league and setting certain standards of the type of stats they should put up, ect.

He has also praised many big men and other players.

In the end ratings for the show are higher then ever and most people like watching Shaq.
He has a multi-year contract so unless the show is cancelled or they buy him out he isn't going anywhere.

Jordan had the bigger ego, but Shaq was more sensitive. biggest egos in history :
mj
kobe
wilt
shaq

Run DLC wrote:Shaq's ego is out of control. He ruined the entire TNT show because he's always trying to make himself looks more important than Barkley and the rest of the crew. He's always downplaying other big men in the league and setting certain standards of the type of stats they should put up, ect.

To the question: It's not the size of the ego, it's that Shaq's really childish. I mean his own wife said he was a drama queen.

To your post: The issue with the TNT show is that Shaq knows he has to find his niche or he'll get replaced, and I think he knows it's not working so he's starting to take some shots in the dark. As much I dislike the guy, it's still painful to watch and I feel for him.

What's interesting is that no one seemed to doubt that Shaq had a career as a TV personality waiting for him despite the fact that his humor is elementary school with a dash of racism, he's never had any track record for rapid insight, and his speech is very difficult to understand.

TrueLAfan wrote:Not a chance. MJ has just about the biggest ego I've ever seen in the NBA.

And that's exactly what you want. Come on … what this means is that every time Michael Jordan stepped onto the basketball court, he thought he was the best player there. Every time. Nobody close. He didn't think anybody could stop him. He knew people would try and he was 2-3 steps ahead in terms of planning how to break them down on the court and break them mentally. You can't get a better mentality for the alpha player on the team. Shaq enjoyed dominating other players and taking over games, but it wasn't hard wired into him in the same way it was for MJ. The type of domination Michael Jordan sought and achieved was part of his basic personality. It has gotten him into trouble at times off the court. It made him one of the three greatest players of all time on the court.

Shaq was physically dominant in a way Jordan could never be. But the mental; aspect of it? The desire to push himself? Have a look at how many games Michael Jordan missed between his third season and the final championship Bulls season. Seven. Part of that was luck--but part of it was sheer fury and fear about missing games and losing his standing.

The point is that everyone agreed with Jordan's self-assessment because MJ essentially walked the walk. This made him kind of an a$$ as a person and teammate—but who do you want on your time? The nice guy, or the best player? Teammates forgave MJ because he was as hard on himself as he was on others. You don't have that kind of intensity without paying a price. Shaq had friends, and liked to buddy up to people. He's essentially a nice guy. Even when Shaq was/is mad at someone, his fury was/is nothing like Jordan's. People were surprised about some of the anger and cruelty and pettiness at his HOF induction speech. I wasn't. MJ was true to himself. He really is like that.

Side note—there are lots of other players that think/have thought they were unstoppable on the court, many of whom deserved to feel that way. Some were nice guys (Magic, Erving), some were trashtalkers (Bird), some kept it inside (West, Kareem). Some were simply a$$hats (Rick Barry comes to mind). But, IMO, all of them had a sense of achievement at being so good. Jordan had less of that sense than any other great player. I don't think any great player took less true joy in success than Michael Jordan. Sure he was satisfied...but that was, literally, what he expected of himself. He seemed to always feel threatened by even the thought of complacency; to maintain that level of intensity must have psychologically murderous. I can see how a baseball vacation—because that's what it was; a vacation—would be critical for the well-being—even sanity—of someone like that. Shaq is not like that at all.

Great post and a perfect summation as to how great players perceive themselves and the actions (for better or worse) they have to take in order to achieve their ultimate goals: a championship. Granted, not every great player(s) story is the same, but there is a common denominator in them all: an insecurity or deeply rooted motivation to be better than everyone else in spite of the costs. In essence, their characteristics tend to border on sociopathic behaviors in terms of their dedication and commitment to their craft in spite of health, personal well-being, and their relationship(s) with other people.