• Shaquille O’Neal didn’t want to get beat up twice, so he never worked hard in practice
• Shaq still won four NBA Championships without giving his 100% during practice
• Kobe Bryant thought if Shaquille O’Neal had a good work ethic, he would have been the GOAT
Shaquille O’Neal is regarded as one of the most dominant players of all time. During his prime, he led the Los Angeles Lakers to three consecutive NBA titles in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
Despite enjoying so much success, O’Neal has always been criticized for not working hard during practices. Shaquille O’Neal addressed the criticism in a 2015 interview with Graham Bensinger.
“In the words of Allen Iverson, ‘We talking about practice?’ Did I work hard in practice? No. Never,” O’Neal said. “And let me tell you why. The guy that I’m playing against, they’re under me. So to try and show that they’re worthy of being an NBA player, they would touch me up. So it was my philosophy. I’m not gonna get touched up twice.”
He added: “I’m not gonna get beat up at practice and in the game. So I will chill in practice and I’ll give you all in the game. … I’m gonna go out in front of these 16,000 people and then give you 28, 10. I’m gonna go out and dominate, I’m gonna go out and hit clutch free throws when I need them. That’s what you pay me for.
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Shaquille O’Neal still said it was a bad way to approach the game. It worked for him as he took his game to another level during actual games. There’s no certainty that all players can ignore practice and achieve even a percent of Shaq’s success in the NBA.
Kobe Bryant On If Shaquille O’Neal Had His Work Ethic
If Shaquille O’Neal was never keen on giving it his 100% during practice, Kobe Bryant was the complete opposite of him.
The Mamba worked harder than anyone, and the effort reflected in the results. Bryant once said if Shaq had his work ethic, he could have become the GOAT.
“He’d be the greatest of all time,” Kobe said. “He’d be the first to tell you that. This guy was a force like I had never seen. It was crazy. Guy that size, generally guys that size are a little timid. They don’t wanna be tall, they don’t wanna be big. He did not care. He was mean, he was nasty, he was competitive, he was vindictive. I wish he was in the gym, I would have had f*****g 12 rings.”
Well, that’s a hypothetical scenario and we will never find an answer to how many championships O’Neal could have won with Kobe’s work ethic. He still managed to win four rings (three with the Lakers and one with the Heat) without focusing on practice, so that’s a pretty huge achievement.
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