Shaquille O’Neal on ‘Inside the NBA’ with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson: ‘Hopefully this is not the last year’

Your championships were sandwiched between two Michael Jordan three-peats. Do you think those Rockets teams have gotten their proper due for what they accomplished? Kenny Smith: You can’t erase history. I don’t know if you get proper due, but you can’t erase history. Everyone always says, “Well, Michael was out.” No, he wasn’t — he was wearing No. 45 (in 1995). And everyone is saying, “Oh, he was rusty.” No one was saying he was rusty when he had 55 points at Madison Square Garden that same year. He had 55 points against the Knicks, who were arguably the best defensive team in basketball at that time. No, he was Michael Jordan. (The Bulls) just weren’t as good a basketball team. The team they lost to, the Orlando Magic, we swept. I never look at it as getting respect. You can’t erase history. And we’re here to stay. He did play that year, so there was only one year he wasn’t there. He did play (during the second title run). He was there, and we just didn’t get an opportunity to meet them. -via Houston Chronicle / August 14, 2024