Looking Back
Career Stats: 19 seasons, 28,596 points, 13,099 rebounds, four-time NBA champion, three-time NBA Finals MVP, 1 regular season MVP, NBA Rookie of the Year, 15-time NBA All-Star, 14-time All-NBA selection
In addition to those numbers, Shaquille O’Neal has played with six teams, 11 future Hall of Famers, scored over 28,000-plus points, 13,000-plus rebounds and 2,700-plus blocks over roughly 20 years.
Those are first ballot Hall of Fame numbers for sure, but still– shouldn’t his stats have been better? There was no one on the planet that could guard him. He was a physical lab rat, the body weight, the height, the power and his all-around skills were second to none, but yet he could not single-handily put a franchise on his back and demand a winning attitude from everyone.
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When he didn’t get his way, he complained and sulked teammates, coaches, front office personnel and the media.
Am I saying that Shaq was a bum — hell no. He was, and still is, in my opinion the most feared player to ever step on a NBA court in history, but he fell short too may times. He was often injured during his career, the most games he ever played in a year was 81 (’92 and ’93) seasons with the Magic. After that his body began to betray him.
What Shaq and Kobe accomplished in Los Angeles will always remembered by history, but egos destroyed that team, the same way it took out his Orlando team with a young core (remember the Magic wanted Chris Webber, but Shaq fell in love with Penny during their filming of the movie Blue Chips). He wanted more, but he saw the bright light that was Hardaway and ran to Los Angeles, where he was to be the focal point but he had no idea that a young rookie would turn into the Black Mamba.
Once that happened it was time to leave again, this time he wanted a ring to shut the critics up that said he couldn’t win without Phil and Kobe. He got the ring, but it was with two more Hall of Fame players, and potentially the third best shooting guard, behind Michael Jordan and Kobe, to ever play the game.
When his welcome in Miami was worn out, he bolted to Phoenix where he wanted to ride the wave of Stoudemire, Nash and Hill but that was a total failure as injures to all players derailed their legacy. No ring, so it was time to seek out another superstar.
Enter LeBron James and the Cavs.
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By this time Shaq was on one leg, trying his best to rekindle something or ride the pine to another ring. Didn’t happen. Out the door again and into the arms of the Celtics and their already established championship team but, as usual, he was not in shape and another injury forced him to call it quits.
The fued between him and Kobe was real. They hated each other but they respected one another as well, which is probably the only reason it lasted as long as it did. Basketball is a game of wills, determination and egos as much as it is skill. Once he left the Lakers, he wanted to prove that he could get that ring somewhere else and he did, but he never counted on Kobe and Phil getting back together and getting two more of their own.
In my eyes, Shaquille O’Neal will be viewed as the most dominating and feared center to play in the NBA but as a winner and team leader, he is flawed. But don’t feel bad for Shaq because Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, David Robinson Patrick Ewing couldn’t do it alone either — heck not even his crap talking partner, Scottie Pippen, could do it.
Neither player was able to put a team on their back and lead them to a championship. What makes Shaq stand out is his inability to shut up, which puts more focus on his failures. Have you ever watched him and Barkley go at it on TNT? He stays throwing it in the face of Chuck that he has no ring. Chuck being him just smiles and says “if it wasn’t for Kobe and Wade neither would you.”
Nuff said…