"He Crossed the Line" - Shaquille O'Neal 'Disrespecting and Backstabbing' Michael Jordan's Ex-Teammate Led to Near Altercation

Shaquille O'Neal is one of the best characters the NBA has ever produced. A jolly big man off the court, giving back to his community the best way he can. However, he was once confronted by Michael Jordan's friend and former teammate, Charles Oakley, for being disrespectful and a backstabber.

Speaking on "The Art Of Dialogue," Oakley shared how he confronted O'Neal in New York City for being disrespectful and talking behind his back. He was with Jordan, who was the peacemaker during what could have been an ugly altercation.

"We was in the Palace Hotel, and MJ went to get some coffee," Oakley said. "I was checking out, and I seen him. I walked up to him like, 'You know, you've been disrespected, right? Him and his uncle are together. I said, 'That was some BS you did. You crossed the line with me.'"

The enforcer added:

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"You know, he called me 'unc,' and MJ ran and said, 'Oak, what you doing, man?' I said, 'He crossed the line, man. He know what he did.' So MJ pulled me 1:20 away. ... I told him what happened, and he's like, 'Yeah, that is f*cked up.'"

Charles Oakley added that it just built up over time, calling Shaquille O'Neal sloppy. He even brought up Kobe Bryant's previous remarks about his former LA Lakers teammate, which led to their public beef.

Oakley did acknowledge Shaq is a good dude and praised all the good samaritan stuff he's doing. However, he won't take any disrespectful talk behind his back and won't be afraid to confront anyone who does it to him.

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Charles Oakley named Shaquille O'Neal as one of the toughest players he ever guarded

Nearly whenever Shaquille O'Neal played against Charles Oakley, there was either a lot of trash talk or a confrontation. It was friendly competition, which Oakley appreciates. He even told Betway Insider a few years ago that O'Neal was one of the toughest players he had to guard in his career, along with other Hall of Famers.

"Shaq was tough," Oakley said. "He was just big, and the one thing he liked to do was dunk on you. He never dunked on me, but he was a force though, I give him credit. Skill-wise, Kevin McHale, in the post, Tim Duncan. Karl Malone, but he just flopped too much for me."

Oakley also put Shaq in his all-time starting five alongside Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

Edited by Juan Paolo David