Man i can remember when shaq came into the league no one had ever seen anything like him. The speed, power and and size, wow. Definitely the most dominate center of all time.
Not taking anything away from wilt he was the best in his Era hands down I don't know well he would do in todays game. When wilt played he was a foot taller than anybody in the league and guys weren't half as athletic he should should have dominated just by default. I can't remember another era that had as many great centers (David Robinson, hakim the dream, euwing, and so on) in the league as O'Neals Era and for him to come to the league and dominate like he did is impressive.
So powerful, that he forced the NBA to redesign all of its goal standards after the plays in #5. The NBA had known about glass-shattering dunks, but never before (or since) has someone broken the entire structure.
I think his extra weight helped him with the Lakers, later it spiraled out of control lol, he played in the NBA at close to 400 pounds in his last season
Shaq was a force to be reckoned with when he first started his dominant NBA career playing for the Orlando Magic! He was a beast in his prime playing with great players like Afernee Hardaway aka Penny, Dennis Scott aka D3, Booie, Nick Anderson, Brian Hill and Horace Grant. I miss this old school 90's magic team! Only thing, I wish they won an NBA Championship together with "Lil Penny" especially in the 95 playoffs finals against Rockets!!! That would have been sweet!!!
Sam Gallimore he didn’t take care of himself at all even when he was on the lakers he was getting fat he was good but he was getting fat and slow if he would’ve stayed in shape and played with Kobe 6 rings guaranteed
Big respect to all the big man who jumped vs shaq thats wat made the centers era basketball so great every big man jumped to block the dunk no matter who or how great the player is like a gladiator sport
Me and my brother talk about this all the time. Shaq had the best opportunity of his career here because it was a new, young franchise. Yes, he won championships with the Lakers, but you had a chance to make the Orlando Magic your franchise; the Lakers already had previous greats. You, Penny, Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott, Donald Royal, Anthony Bowie and many others had such a bright future. I have no doubt y'all would've won multiple championships that would've put the new Orlando Magic franchise up there with those Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Laker, New York Knicks teams of old. Big opportunity missed! Orlando would've been your city, dude. This is why LeBron went back to Cleveland and wants to win a championship there. He'll be a superstar player from Ohio and bring that team it's first championship and bring that city a championship since the 60's. It's all about legacy and being that one to set the tone is how you want to be remembered.
El Hajj Malik El I have the same coversation with friends that I grew up with here in Orlando; Shaq would've definitely won more rings in Orlando, the Magic would've dominated the East for a long time. He alone would've been the face of the franchise the city of Orlando would've erected a statue on his behalf. Shaq probably didn't know how much the city of Orlando loved having him here I know as a teenager in high school my friends and I would stay up late and watch all the road games, the next morning all we spoke about was how dominant Shaq played against the great centers of that time. God I miss that Magic-Shaq team.
cflo1386, exactly. He did an interview with Penny and D-Scott in a barbershop and even said he made a mistake when he left Orlando. Even though I started watching in 2005 when we just let go of T-Mac, I still go back and check out the old 90's games. The team had so much potential. That started the Magic curse. They would've erected a statue of Shaq right outside the old Amway Arena. My brother, who is older than me, was telling me of how there was a buzz all around the city and they had the colors and the music to match the team; they had a serious identity out here. I was like 5-6 at the time, but I do remember some of the Magic craze in the city. It especially pissed me off when he won a championship with Miami in 2006. Orlando would've been the city to set the standard in Florida and trump anything Miami could've done.
The electricity in Orlando was great before the draft because everybody in Orlando knew we were getting Shaq, but we were still a little concerned about how good of a player he was going to be. A year earlier the Magic picked up his teammate, center Stanley Roberts, and he was a bust so there was concern if Shaq was going to be a bust as well. But, Shaq brought that electricity even before he played his first game in a Magic uniform.
Cc Bb that comment was 2 weeks ago btw, dwights first couple games on the Hawks were great. At the time it seemed like he was getting better. For right now not really although hes still a decent player and a good rebounder.
Victor Sullivan Wilt didn't play in Shaq's era. Shaq was more dominant physically than Wilt. And had he play in the 60's, he would have averaged hands down the same kind of numbers Wilt did in his prime. People never take the era into account but it does count.
Remember the days I woke up at 3 am in Germany to see Shaq dunking....Penny Hardaway, Dennis Scott, Robertson still are heroes to me....I was crying when they were swept 4-0 by Houston in the Finals....
Athletic freak man. For some one his size and move around like that its just crazy. These aint bench warmers he slamming on but hall of famers some even against top 5 centers.
wedontknow Thank you for this comment. People never mention how mobile, agile and skilled he was for his size and weight. They take it for granted but it's fucking crazy.
wedontknow Dwight has potential and he also plays in a softer era. Plus he really doesn't have any serious competition at that position. Yet, he still can't clearly dominate the center position like Shaq did. And Shaq had way more competition.
Shaq came right into the nba as a rookie and averaged almost 30 a game we will never see another big man do that . anytime shaw caught the ball deep in the paint it was a dunk no matter what he had the best hands of anyone other than mj i.ever seen period .. if only kobe wasn't selfish shaq and kobe would've won from 5 or 6 rings in a row easily but kobe wanted to be the man and couldn't handle shaq being the man .. that 01 Lakers team was so.good man they would smash any current nba team today Ina series with ease !!!
Salut from Greece ,i wasn't fan off shaquile O'Neal never,, i was fan of Robinson or Hakim this era but i think shaq is the best center of all time ,its fair to admit this
No doubt about it. In that decade, I would watch basketball all the time. Not only that, but NBA Jam came out that decade which is my favorite basketball game. I wish we could go back to the 90s. That was the last best decade in the history of this planet.
