Shaquille O’Neal was the most dominant big man in NBA history and the driving force behind the last team to three-peat. Was his game always pretty to watch? No. It didn’t need to be. Shaq was a force of nature who overwhelmed opponents with a combination of size, strength, athleticism, and skill that the league simply had no answer for.
His first four seasons with the Orlando Magic, alongside Penny Hardaway, gave the NBA its first glimpse of what was coming. Shaq averaged 27.2 points and 12.5 rebounds per game during his Orlando career and helped lead the Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals. But his move to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996 set the stage for his true dominance.
At his peak, Shaq was nearly unstoppable. He won the 2000 NBA MVP after averaging 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game. More importantly, he led the Lakers to three consecutive championships from 2000 through 2002, winning Finals MVP in all three. During those three Finals, Shaq averaged roughly 36 points and 15 rebounds per game. Everyone knew where the ball was going, and it still didn’t matter.
On the tail end of his prime, Shaq joined Dwyane Wade in Miami and helped the Heat win the 2006 NBA championship, giving him a fourth ring. He finished his career as a 15-time All-Star, 14-time All-NBA selection, four-time champion, three-time Finals MVP, and league MVP. When Shaq retired in 2011, his 28,596 career points ranked fifth in NBA history, showing that his résumé went well beyond just a few dominant seasons.
Did Shaq extract everything possible from his God-given ability? I don’t think so. His conditioning and commitment were questioned throughout his career, and that makes you wonder what his résumé could have looked like with a different approach. But perhaps that makes his peak even more remarkable. Despite that, for a relatively short stretch of his career, Shaquille O’Neal reached a level of physical dominance that basketball may never see again.
That dominance earns Shaq the #7 spot on my list of the greatest NBA players of all time.
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