There is no simple word to describe Shaquille O'Neal , who carved out his legacy as an indomitable force on the basketball court. His sheer size and strength granted him a formidable edge over his opponents, so much so that during his rookie year, he famously shattered the steel supports of two backboards with his powerful dunks, giving the NBA no choice but to reinforce the backboard bracing system.
The Hall of Famer wasn’t the most skilled or the best ball handler, but he used his size like none other to overpower defenses near the basket. His dominance in the paint is reflected in his career field goal percentage of 58.2 percent, placing him in the top five with players who have played over 1000 career games.
Even retired NBA star Richard Jefferson , who had the daunting task of standing across some O'Neal-led teams on several occasions, framed just how dominant he was.
“Shaq was a type of person that made you have to change the construction of your roster,” Jefferson said on “Come And Talk 2 Me.” “You had to have two or three bigs just for foul trouble because if you had one big and he got into foul trouble and you didn’t have someone else, Shaq got so many subpar bigs paid because you needed to have them on their roster; that’s how dominant he was.
Hack-a-Shaq
Through 19 years, O’Neal made a mark in the NBA — a four-time NBA champion, a three-time NBA Finals MVP, and a one-time NBA MVP—and was rightfully inducted into the Hall of Fame. Yet, critics often pointed out that he didn’t always seem to give his maximum effort in every game. Despite these criticisms, Shaq’s impact on the court was undeniable. His towering presence and sheer physicality often led opposing teams to rack up fouls, forcing them to sit their big men early to avoid foul trouble. He completely reshaped the way teams approached both offense and defense.
“If they called a foul every time we fouled Shaq, he would have shot 25 free throws every single night,” Jefferson continued. “You had to club him—literally physically club him—to stop him. You couldn’t just wrap him up because he’d take you with him. Shaq was the most dominant player I’ve ever played against on any level I’ve ever seen.”
To stop him, NBA teams had to get creative by innovating the “Hack-a-Shaq” strategy, a plan that revolved around intentionally fouling the opposing team's weakest free-throw shooter, sending them to the line at the end of the game in hopes of them missing the free throws. This tactic was named after the former Lakers center because of his notoriously low free-throw shooting percentage. He even set a record on December 8, 2000, during a game against the Seattle SuperSonics , when he missed all 11 of his attempts from the charity stripe.
Sheer dominance
Despite his struggles at the free-throw line, O'Neal is an all-time great scorer, especially when it comes to the NBA Finals; he ranks second in career Finals field goal percentage in the championship series. However, considering he played in 30 NBA Finals games—six times more than the current leader, Giannis Antetokounmpo —Shaq’s achievements stand out even more. During those games, he maintained an impressive 60.18% field goal percentage.
When it comes to rebounding, the former big man ranks fifth in all-time playoff rebounds and 16th in regular-season rebounds. Combine those, and he sits at 12th in total rebounds across both regular seasons and playoffs.
With a career average of 24.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks, “The Diesel” reinforces his standing as one of the most dominant players the NBA has ever seen.
Related: "Work harder for who, who gonna stop me anyway?" - Shaquille O'Neal responds to criticism he didn't work hard during his career
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