VIDEO: Remember the time Shaq destroyed a basketball net?

Shaquille O'Neal turned 43 on Friday.

The former NBA powerhouse, and future Hall of Famer, should expect plenty of accolades from fans, ex-teammates and just about anyone who has ever seen a basketball game.

Those who caught Shaq at the tail end of his career saw a big body capable of beating defenders on the low block with deft touch and footwork. But that's not how the Big Aristotle made his living as a younger man - no, Shaq was all about unparalleled brute force in his first few years in the league, and nobody did it better.

Here's the best example of just how scary Shaq was during his Orlando Magic tenure, taking the ball to the rim in an April 23, 1993 game against the New Jersey Nets at the Meadowlands and nearly killing several people, including himself:

Several things stand out about this clip:

• The reactions of the fans positioned behind the crippled net can be split into two distinct groups: genuine fear for their well-being, and unfiltered jubilation over what they had just witnessed.

• Nets center Dwayne Schintzius doesn't just end up on a poster - he nearly winds up in a medical facility. The shot clock comes careening down along with the rest of the net, and Schintzius narrowly bailed out of its path.

• Schintzius is still called for a foul.

• Shaq had just turned 21. Yep.

Shaq went on to have one of the most impressive rookie seasons in the history of pro sports - averaging 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds and 3.5 blocks while winning the Rookie of the Year award, earning an All-Star nod and finishing seventh in MVP voting. But nothing better sums up his entrance into the NBA than the time he absolutely destroyed a valuable piece of league property.