In the third year of his professional career, Shaquille O'Neal had tasted victory in a playoff series for the first time.
After this series, he adopted a new nickname for himself: Big Aristotle.
"Because Aristotle once said, 'Excellence is not an act, but a habit,' I will treat winning playoff series as a habit," O'Neal said with a laugh at a press conference.
Of course, Shaq's confidence was not solely from himself, he patted Roger on the shoulder:
"See this man next to me? When you have a teammate who can score 40 points in a half, you understand what it means to say excellence is a habit. I call him Plato, because without Plato, there would be no Aristotle."
While Shaq was excited, Roger, who had just defeated the Celtics, showed little change in emotion.
But his phrase "We are three wins closer to the championship," clearly showed his attitude.
He was determined to have the last laugh this year!