Shaquille O’Neal is considered by many the most dominant player in NBA history. However, that title is debated by others who consider that other legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and especially Wilt Chamberlain, will have a say in this. The debate about the greatest center of all time is also pretty intense around the NBA community and Shaq is well aware of that.
Once, the Big Diesel agreed that he was the 4th greatest center of all time, giving their flowers to other legends. But Shaq never misses a chance to make a case for himself, and even after praising Wilt Chamberlain, he also claimed that he would destroy the Big Dipper.
Comparisons with Kareem are also a common thing in the league, but Shaq recently decided to explain why he was better than Kareem and Wilt. During a recent edition of his The Big Podcast with Shaq (via Sportskeeda), O’Neal touched on this topic, explaining that he was inspired by the other two Lakers legends, but also took things to a different level.
“My inspiration was Kareem and Wilt, and look where I am at. I took it to another level,” Shaq claimed.
That’s the definition that many would think of when you ask them why somebody is better than another person. O’Neal landed in the league with big expectations, and even though he struggled to find success at the beginning, he’d later catch up and become an unstoppable force in the paint.
No wonder he considers himself the most dominant player in league history, and to be fair, it’s hard to make a case against that. Shaq was a nightmare for his defenders during his prime, and he did things that are nearly impossible to see in today’s NBA. The debate of who’s better between him, Kareem, and Wilt can wait for another day, but nobody can deny that Shaq was a bad man on the court.
