Shaquille O’Neal arguably had the most dominant prime in NBA history. He led the Los Angeles Lakers to a three-peat in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
When O’Neal was at the top of his game, it was almost impossible to stop him. After winning Game 3 of the 2001 NBA Finals, O’Neal claimed even he couldn’t stop himself in one-on-one situations during the prime of his career.
“I’m the only player in the league that has to change my game day in and day out,” O’Neal said, per ESPN. “And that’s why I enjoy punishing people, especially people that think they can play me one-on-one because I can’t even stop myself one-on-one.”
Shaquille O’Neal’s patented bully-ball playing style did wonders for him. O’Neal was a force to be reckoned with during the prime of his career.
He also had a near-perfect season in 2000, where he won the championship, Finals MVP, regular season MVP, scoring champion, All-Star MVP, and led the Lakers to a 67-win season. He averaged 29.7 PPG, 13.6 RPG, and 3.8 APG in the season.
Shaquille O’Neal Could Have Been Even Better
For a player as dominant as Shaquille O’Neal, one would think there was no room for improvement for him. But that wasn’t the case.
O’Neal won four rings in his career. However, according to the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal could have become the GOAT if he had a great work ethic.
“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.”
Even without a good work ethic, Shaq did enough to be regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. And for many, he is still the most dominant player to ever play in the NBA.
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