Boston Celtics big man alum Shaquille O'Neal named among ESPN's top 20 athletes of 21st century

When it comes to the top 100 athletes of the 21st century, former Boston Celtics big man Shaquille O’Neal is one of them in the eyes of ESPN. Clocking in at No. 17 overall in the first edition of their recent top-100 list, O’Neal was a member of the Celtics organization in the 2010-11 NBA season, hoping to pick up another ring with Boston’s penultimate title crew.

Alas, injuries to Shaq and fellow Celtics kept that from happening, but we still get to claim the Big Aristotle regardless. And as to what got him such a lofty perch in ESPN’s rankings is explained at length by Dave McMenamin.

“When Phil Jackson took a then 27-year-old O’Neal out to dinner during training camp ahead of the 1999-2000 Lakers season, the Zen Master challenged the center with a lofty objective,” writes McMenamin.

That objective — to not only earn that season’s MVP award, but to do it so often and well the award would be re-named after him — appeared to strike a chord. “O’Neal went on to win three MVPs during the ensuing campaign,” adds the ESPN writer.

“The league never named the trophy after O’Neal, but he did pick up the moniker “Most Dominant Ever,” which isn’t a bad consolation prize.”

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