# Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille O'Neal is one of the most dominant players in NBA history, winning four championships and three consecutive Finals MVP awards with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2000 to 2002. Standing 7 feet 1 inch and weighing 325 pounds, he combined extraordinary size with agility and skill to become virtually unstoppable in the post. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History and remains one of basketball's most beloved personalities. ## Quick Facts - **Born:** March 6, 1972 - **Birthplace:** Newark, United States - **Nationality:** American - **Occupation:** Basketball - **Category:** Athletes - **Net Worth:** $400M (est. 2024) - **Also Known As:** Shaq, The Big Aristotle, Diesel, Superman ## Early life O'Neal playing for Cole High School varsity basketball team in San Antonio, Texas, in 1989 Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal was born on March 6, 1972, in Newark, New Jersey, to Lucille O'Neal and Joe Toney, who played high school basketball (he was an All-State guard) and was offered a basketball scholarship to play at Seton Hall. Toney struggled with drug addiction and was imprisoned for drug possession when O'Neal was an infant. Upon his release, he did not resume a place in O'Neal's life and instead agreed to relinquish his parental rights to O'Neal's Jamaican stepfather, Phillip Arthur Harrison, a career Army sergeant. O'Neal remained estranged from his biological father for decades; O'Neal had not spoken with Toney or expressed an interest in establishing a relationship. On his 1994 rap album, Shaq Fu: The Return, O'Neal voiced his feelings of disdain for Toney in the song "Biological Didn't Bother", dismissing him with the line "Phil is my father". However, O'Neal's feelings toward Toney mellowed in the years following Harrison's death in 2013, and the two met for the first time in March 2016, with O'Neal telling him, "I don't hate you. I had a good life. I had Phil." O'Neal came from a tall family. His father and mother were 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) and 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall, respectively, and by age 13, O'Neal was already 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) tall. He credited the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in Newark with giving him a safe place to play and keeping him off the streets. "It gave me something to do," he said. "I'd just go there to shoot. I didn't even play on a team." Because of his stepfather's career in the military, the family left Newark, moving to military bases in Germany and Texas. After returning from Germany, O'Neal's family settled in San Antonio, Texas. By age 16, O'Neal had grown to 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), and he began playing basketball at Robert G. Cole High School. He led his team to a 68–1 record over two years and helped the team win the state championship during his senior year. His 791 rebounds during the 1989 season remains a state record for a player in any classification. Cole High retired O'Neal's Number"}]],"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"abbr","href":"./Template:Abbr"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"No."},"2":{"wt":"Number"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mw9w">No. 33 in 2014. According to O'Neal, he wanted to wear 33 because he had made a sky hook and received comparisons to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who wore 33. In 2021, O'Neal said his admiration for Patrick Ewing inspired him to wear the number 33. ## College career After graduating from high school in 1989, O'Neal studied business at Louisiana State University (LSU). He first met Tigers coach Dale Brown years earlier in Europe when O'Neal's stepfather was stationed on a U.S. Army base at Wildflecken, West Germany. While playing for Brown at LSU, O'Neal was a two-time All-American, two-time SEC Player of the Year, and received the Adolph Rupp Trophy as NCAA men's basketball player of the year in 1991; he was also named college player of the year by Associated Press and UPI. O'Neal left LSU early to pursue his NBA career, but continued his education even after becoming a professional player. He was later inducted into the LSU Hall of Fame. A 900-pound (410 kg) bronze statue of O'Neal is located in front of the LSU Basketball Practice Facility. ## Professional career Orlando Magic (1992–1996) Rookie of the Year (1992–1993) The Orlando Magic selected O'Neal with the 1st overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. In the summer before moving to Orlando, he spent time in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. O'Neal wore No. 32 because veteran teammate Terry Catledge refused to relinquish the 33 jersey. O'Neal said that 32 was the first number he wore when he began playing basketball. O'Neal was named the Player of the Week in his first week in the NBA, the first player to do so. During his rookie season, O'Neal averaged 23.4 points on 56.2% shooting, 13.9 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game for the season. He was named the 1993 NBA Rookie of the Year and was the first rookie to be voted an All-Star starter since Michael Jordan in 1985. The Magic finished 41–41, winning 20 more games than the previous season, but missed the playoffs by virtue of a tie-breaker with the Indiana Pacers. On more than one occasion during the year, Sports Illustrated writer Jack McCallum overheard O'Neal saying, "We've got to get [head coach] Matty [Guokas] out of here and bring in [assistant] Brian [Hill]." First playoff appearance (1993–1994) In 1993–1994, O'Neal's second season, Hill was the coach and Guokas was reassigned to the front office. O'Neal improved his scoring average to 29.4 points (second in the league to David Robinson) while leading the NBA in field goal percentage at 60%. On November 20, 1993, against the New Jersey Nets, O'Neal registered the first triple-double of his career, recording 24 points to go along with career highs of 28 rebounds and 15 blocks. He was voted into the All-Star game and also made the All-NBA 3rd Team. Teamed with newly drafted Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, the Magic finished with a record of 50–32 and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In his first playoff series, O'Neal averaged 20.7 points and 13.3 rebounds as the Pacers swept the Magic. First scoring title and NBA Finals (1994–1996) In O'Neal's third season, 1994–95, he led the NBA in scoring with a 29.3 point average, while finishing second in MVP voting to David Robinson and entering his third straight All-Star Game along with Hardaway. They formed one of the league's top duos and helped Orlando to a 57–25 record and the Atlantic Division crown. The Magic won their first-ever playoff series against the Boston Celtics in the 1995 NBA playoffs. They then defeated the Chicago Bulls in the conference semifinals. After beating Reggie Miller's Indiana Pacers, the Magic reached the NBA Finals, facing the defending NBA champion Houston Rockets. O'Neal played well in his first Finals appearance, averaging 28 points on 59.5% shooting, 12.5 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. Despite this, the Rockets, led by future Hall-of-Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, swept the series in four games. O'Neal was injured for a great deal of the 1995–96 season, missing 28 games. He averaged 26.6 points and 11 rebounds per game, ## National team career While in college, O'Neal was considered for the Dream Team to fill the college spot, but it eventually went to future teammate Christian Laettner. His national team career began in the 1994 FIBA World Championship in which he was named MVP of the Tournament. While he led the Dream Team II to the gold medal with an 8–0 record, O'Neal averaged 18 points and 8.5 rebounds and recorded two double-doubles. In four games, he scored more than 20 points. Before 2010, he was the last active American player to have a gold from the FIBA World Cup. He was one of two players (the other being Reggie Miller) from the 1994 roster to be also named to the Dream Team III. Due to more star-power, he rotated with Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson and started 3 games. He averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds with 8 total blocks. Again, a perfect 8–0 record landed him another gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. O'Neal was upset that coach Lenny Wilkens played Robinson more minutes in the final game; Wilkens previously explained to O'Neal that it would probably be Robinson's last Olympics. After his 1996 experience, he declined to play in international competition. He was angered by being overlooked for the 1999 FIBA AmeriCup squad, saying it was a "lack of respect". He forwent an opportunity to participate in the 2000 Olympics, explaining that two gold medals were enough. O'Neal also chose not to play in the 2002 FIBA World Championship. He rejected an offer to play in the 2004 Olympics, and although he was initially interested in being named for 2006–2008 US preliminary roster, he eventually declined the invitation. ## Player profile O'Neal's free throw shooting was regarded as one of his major weaknesses. O'Neal is widely considered one of the greatest centers and players of all time, and is sometimes regarded as the most dominant player ever. ESPN ranked him as the tenth greatest NBA player and the fifth greatest player of the 21st century, and wrote that he was the most dominant player of all time. ESPN also ranked him as the fifth greatest center of all time. Slam Magazine ranked O'Neal as the sixth greatest player of all time. The Athletic ranked him as the eighth greatest basketball player ever, and wrote that he was "perhaps the most physically dominant post presence in league history". NBC Sports Boston ranked O'Neal as the fourth greatest center in NBA history. CBS Sports ranked O'Neal as the ninth greatest player of all time, and wrote that he was "probably the most dominant physical force in league history". O'Neal established himself as an overpowering low post presence, putting up career averages of 23.7 points on .582 field goal accuracy, 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. At 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m), 330 lb (150 kg) and U.S. shoe size 23, he became famous for his physical stature. His physical frame gave him a power advantage over most opponents. On two occasions during his first season in the NBA, his powerful dunks broke the steel backboard supports, prompting the league to increase the brace strength and stability of the backboards for the following 1993–94 season. O'Neal's "drop step", (called the "Black Tornado" by O'Neal) in which he posted up a defender, turned around and, using his elbows for leverage, powered past him for a very high-percentage slam dunk, proved an effective offensive weapon. In addition, O'Neal frequently used a right-handed jump hook shot to score near the basket. The ability to dunk contributed to his career field goal accuracy of .582, second only to Artis Gilmore as the highest field goal percentage of all time. He led the NBA in field goal percentage 10 times, breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record of nine. Opposing teams often used up many fouls on O'Neal, reducing the playing time of their own big men. O'Neal's imposing physical presence inside the paint caused dramatic changes in many teams' offensive and defensive strategies. O'Neal's primary weakness was his free throw shooting, with a career average of 52.7%. He once missed all 11 of his free throw attempts in a game against the Seattle SuperSonics on December 8, 2000, a record. O'Neal believes his free throw woes were a mental issue, as he often shot 80 percent in practice. In hope of exploiting O'Neal's poor foul shooting, opponents often committed intentional fouls against him, a tactic known as "Hack-a-Shaq". O'Neal was the third-ranked player all-time in free throws taken, having attempted 11,252 free-throws in 1,207 games up to and including the 2010–11 season. On December 25, 2008, O'Neal missed his 5,000th free throw, becoming the second player in NBA history to do so, al ## Timeline ### 1972 — Born in Newark Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal born in Newark, New Jersey. ### 1972 — O'Neal playing for Cole High School varsity basketball team in San Antonio,... O'Neal playing for Cole High School varsity basketball team in San Antonio, Texas, in 1989 Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal was born on March 6, 1972, in Newark, New Jersey, to Lucille O'Neal and Joe Toney, who played high school basketball (he was an All-State guard) and was offered a basketball scholarshi ### 1985 — He was named the 1993 NBA Rookie of the Year and was the first rookie to be... He was named the 1993 NBA Rookie of the Year and was the first rookie to be voted an All-Star starter since Michael Jordan in 1985 ### 1989 — After graduating from high school in 1989, O'Neal studied business at Louisiana... After graduating from high school in 1989, O'Neal studied business at Louisiana State University (LSU) ### 1991 — While playing for Brown at LSU, O'Neal was a two-time All-American, two-time... While playing for Brown at LSU, O'Neal was a two-time All-American, two-time SEC Player of the Year, and received the Adolph Rupp Trophy as NCAA men's basketball player of the year in 1991; he was also named college player of the year by Associated Press and UPI ### 1992 — NBA Draft #1 Pick Selected first overall by the Orlando Magic. ### 1992 — Orlando Magic (1992–1996) Rookie of the Year (1992–1993) The Orlando Magic... Orlando Magic (1992–1996) Rookie of the Year (1992–1993) The Orlando Magic selected O'Neal with the 1st overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft ### 1993 — On more than one occasion during the year, Sports Illustrated writer Jack... On more than one occasion during the year, Sports Illustrated writer Jack McCallum overheard O'Neal saying, "We've got to get [head coach] Matty [Guokas] out of here and bring in [assistant] Brian [Hill]." First playoff appearance (1993–1994) In 1993–1994, O'Neal's second season, Hill was the coach ### 1994 — First scoring title and NBA Finals (1994–1996) In O'Neal's third season,... First scoring title and NBA Finals (1994–1996) In O'Neal's third season, 1994–95, he led the NBA in scoring with a 29.3 point average, while finishing second in MVP voting to David Robinson and entering his third straight All-Star Game along with Hardaway ### 1995 — The Magic won their first-ever playoff series against the Boston Celtics in the... The Magic won their first-ever playoff series against the Boston Celtics in the 1995 NBA playoffs ### 1996 — Signs with Lakers Signs with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent. ### 2000 — First Championship & MVP Wins first NBA title, averaging 38 points in the Finals. ### 2002 — Three-Peat Wins third consecutive championship, dominating the Finals. ### 2006 — Fourth Championship Wins his fourth title with the Miami Heat alongside Dwyane Wade. ### 2011 — Retirement Retires after 19 NBA seasons with 28,596 career points. --- Source: https://peoplebio.info/p/shaquille-oneal