Top 100 NBA Players: #6

Shaquille O'Neal

(Kalb: #1, Simmons: #11, BBR: #11)

Shaq was one of the most physically imposing players in the history of any sport, and for a few years in his prime, he was absolutely unstoppable. He wasn't always the best player during the regular season, and he did battle a lot of injuries over the years, but he always turned his game up a notch during the playoffs, and he has plenty of rings to show for it.

When Shaq was drafted, there was no doubt that he would be the #1 overall pick, and the Rookie of the Year was practically a foregone conclusion as well, as the big man averaged 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game as a rookie. It was also the first of only 2 times in his career that his team would fail to make the playoffs, losing the tiebreaker to the Indiana Pacers and landing back in the lottery.

His third season in the NBA was a memorable one. He led the league in scoring, led Orlando to the NBA Finals for the first time, and earned the distinction of being the last player to win a playoff series against Michael Jordan, although it should be noted that Jordan had just returned two months earlier from his baseball retirement. He should have won the MVP that year, but it was given to David Robinson instead, because he led the Spurs to the league's best record, but Shaq's numbers in leading Orlando to the top seed in the East were a bit better:

O'Neal - 29.3 pts, 11.4 reb, 2.7 ast, 2.4 blk, .583 FG%, .533 FT%
Robinson - 27.6 pts, 10.8 reb, 2.9 ast, 3.2 blk, .530 FG%, .774 FT%

Robinson certainly had a strong argument for the MVP, but Shaq was slightly better, and he proved it in the playoffs, although he was severely outplayed in the Finals by Hakeem Olajuwon as Orlando was swept. The next time he reached the Finals, he made sure the outcome was different.

Shaq struggled through a few injury-plagued years before finally hitting his stride in 2000 with the Lakers, and what a stride it was. He set career-highs is scoring and assists, and nearly beat his career highs in rebounding and blocks. That was also the year he won his only MVP award, and it wasn't even close. Karl Malone was arguably the next best player that year, but look at the difference in production:

O'Neal - 29.7 pts, 13.6 reb, 3.8 ast, 3.0 blk, .574 FG%, .524 FT%
Malone - 25.5 pts, 9.5 reb, 3.7 ast, 0.9 blk, .509 FG%, .797 FT%

The only category in which Malone was superior was free throw shooting, which comes as no surprise to anyone who ever saw Shaq play. The next season he should have won another MVP, but it was awarded to Allen Iverson, who led the league in scoring and earned Philadelphia the top seed in the East, even though they finished with the same record as the Lakers. Here are their stats from that season:

O'Neal - 28.7 pts, 12.7 reb, 3.7 ast, 2.8 blk, .572 FG%, .513 FT%
Iverson - 31.1 pts, 3.8 reb, 4.6 ast, 2.5 stl, .420 FG%, .814 FT%

Once again, Shaq was horrible from the line, but Iverson was equally bad from the field, so those cancel each other out. Shaq's blocks and Iverson's steals are also nearly equal, and Iverson scored a few more points, but the difference is in rebounds and assists. Iverson was just average in both categories, even though he played point guard, while Shaq was a great rebounder. This award should have been Shaq's, but he got his revenge in the Finals, where they dominated the 76ers and took home their second straight title in 5 games.

The Lakers would again win the championship in 2002, which put Shaq in some very exclusive company. Only 3 players had ever led teams to 3 consecutive titles, and O'Neal was the fourth, joining George Mikan, Bill Russell, and Michael Jordan. And though he was never the best player on a champion again, he did lead the Lakers back to the Finals once more, in 2004, and won a title as D-Wade's sidekick in 2006 for Miami.

Overall, despite his shortcomings at the line and the relatively short period that he was on top, O'Neal dominated the game at a level not seen since Wilt's heyday, and when he put everything into it, nobody could stop him. He retired with 4 championships, 3 Finals MVP's, one regular MVP, and 8 seasons as one of the top 5 players in the league.

Magic ended his career with one more title than Shaq, and a few more Finals appearances, but Magic was never as dominant as O'Neal was, especially from 1999-2001, where you can see the peak on the graph above. He also earns points for longevity, but in the end what set O'Neal apart from Magic was that for a couple of years there was no doubt who the best player in the league was, and during Magic's era there was always argument about that.