Indiana Pacers news: Shaquille O’Neal was determined to beat Rik Smits

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal had high praise for Indiana Pacers center Rik Smits, who he was determined to beat in the 2000 NBA Finals

Rik Smits is an often overlooked and underappreciated Indiana Pacers player and NBA player in general. Spending all of his NBA career with the Indiana Pacers, his career spanned for 12 years through some of the most competitive seasons the Pacers had in NBA history.

Smits has not had his number retired, though there’s an argument to be made for the Pacers to raise #45 to the rafters at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Recent quotes from Shaquille O’Neal about the 2000 NBA Finals might just help make that case even stronger.

Speaking to Scoop B Robinson of Heavy, O’Neal provided some insight on the Lakers run through the NBA Finals in 2000, which they won over the Pacers:

"After making it to the Finals in ’94 and getting embarrassed by Hakeem Olajuwon, I said to myself, ‘if I ever go back, I gotta put on a performance so dominant that it won’t be a question who the champ is…’ and then, I had another thing motivating me. Rik Smits used kill me when I was younger. So I know he’s way older. He came in the game – oh yeah Shaq’s a dog. He’s the same ol’ Shaq, giving out elbows to the face and in your mouth and in your nose… I’m coming to take this trophy by any means necessary. So there was something that I had to prove and set an example and something that had to be done because, if we don’t win that first one, they’ll probably break us up and it’ll be a lot more negative stuff to talk about."

O’Neal and Smits’s careers overlapped for about seven seasons, and the duo played each other 19 times in the regular season, Smits and the Pacers winning 10 of those contests.

There’s not much statistical validity to O’Neal’s claim that Smits “killed him” early in his career. In their first five regular season matchups, O’Neal averaged 28.4 points and 14 rebounds, Smits averaged 14.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

In the playoffs, the duo faced off 16 times, each of their teams winning eight games.

O’Neal averaged 30.1 points and 12.9 rebounds per game in the playoffs, Smits 14.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, albeit in 26.4 minutes compared to O’Neal’s 40.3 minutes.

The fact that matchups with Smits stand out to Shaq and stood as a means for motivation to perform at a high level in The Finals is telling, though, clearly displaying the reputation Smits had and the contributions he provided beyond just general box score stats.

O’Neal and the Lakers would, of course, best the Pacers in six games in 2000. Smits had a particularly rough final game with Shaq and the Lakers sealing the deal, scoring just 2 points in 24 minutes of action. It would also be the final time he and O’Neal would match up, as Smits retired following the 2000 season.

It’s awesome to see a former Pacer get such high praise for being a fierce competitor for a legendary center. O’Neal was at his best when with the Lakers in 2000, and Smits helped provide some of that fire that motivated Shaq to be at his best.

O’Neal’s work ethic and dedication weren’t always highly regarded. Smits brought out a fierce competitor in O’Neal, something only a truly great player could do.