Michael Jordan revealed when he saw a sign of weakness in Shaquille O’Neal.

As a ruthlessly competitive player, Jordan did not believe in helping opponents up off the court, and judged those who did — such as Shaq — as lacking killer instinct.

“When I came back from baseball, I don’t know if I’ve ever told anyone this, I’m playing against Shaq,” Jordan told The Ringer’s Jackie MacMullan on her “Icons Club” basketball podcast. “Shaq’s the biggest player I’ve ever seen, in terms of physicality. He was this big, massive guy when I came back from baseball, so I was somewhat intimidated.

“I didn’t really know how to play against him. Do I go right at him? Do I stop and pull up? Blah blah blah. So I went right at him and he just knocked me straight to the floor, and then he reached down to pick me up.

Jordan smelled blood.

“I said, ‘Naw, he didn’t mean it, he’s a nice guy.’ If he’d’ve left me, stepped over me, a la the old school, I would’ve been somewhat intimidated,” Jordan said. “But his heart is too good. He’s not that type of guy. It took away some of the intimidation factor.”

MacMullan asked, “You knew you had him?”

“I did,” Jordan responded.

Shaq and Anfernee Hardaway’s Magic did defeat Jordan’s Bulls 4-2 in the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals, after Jordan had returned to the NBA late in the regular season. However, the next year the Bulls swept the Magic in the Eastern Conference finals to get the last laugh on their way to an NBA championship.