Shaquille O'Neal

[Mr.Espinoza ♔♔♔]

Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (Newark, New Jersey, March 6, 1972) is a former American basketball player who played in the pivot position.2 He is considered one of the most dominant players in NBA history. 3 4 O'Neal has won four NBA championships, three with Los Angeles Lakers and one with Miami Heat, in addition to finishing runner-up with Orlando Magic in 1995 and with Los Angeles Lakers in 2004.

As for individual awards, O'Neal has achieved an MVP of the season in 2000, eight appearances in the best quintet of the NBA, three MVPs of the Finals, three MVPs of the All-Star Game (the last one, shared with his former Lakers partner Kobe Bryant) and the Rookie of the Year. He is the eighth highest scorer in the history of the NBA with 28,596 points.

In the US national team, O'Neal reaped the Olympic gold in 1996 and the 1994 World Cup in Canada, being chosen the MVP of said world championship.

On September 11, 2008, O'Neal declared that he would retire from basketball in 735 days, which meant that after the 2009-10 season his withdrawal would become official.5 However, he continued on the Boston Celtics squad for a season more. Once finished, on June 1, 2011, he announced through the social network Twitter his definitive withdrawal from the basketball courts.6 After his retirement, he began collaborating with TNT in Inside NBA for the American channel TNT, making a brief section known as Shaqtin 'a Fool, in which he reviews the most comical moments that have occurred in the last week of NBA competition.7

On April 4, 2016, he joined the Basketball Hall of Fame.

O'Neal began playing at Linton Middle School before leading Robert G. Cole High School in San Antonio, Texas, to a record 68 wins and one loss during his two years on the team. He also led his team to win the state title in his senior year.9

After graduating from high school, O'Neal attended Louisiana State University, where he was a member of the African-American fraternal organization Omega Psi Phi and studied business. His coach was Dale Brown, whom O'Neal met years ago in Europe, due to the time the player lived at the base of the United States Army in Wildflecken (Germany) because of his stepfather's work. In Louisiana State he played three seasons, from 1990 to 1992, leaving the university with averages of 21.6 points, 13.5 rebounds and 4.6 blocks in the 90 games he played. In his first season he signed 13.9 points and 12 rebounds per game, exploding in his sophomore (second) campaign with 27.6 points, 14.7 (NCAA leader) rebounds and 5 blocks per game. In addition, on December 3, 1990 he placed 17 caps against Mississippi State, becoming an NCAA. record.10 During his trip to the Louisiana State Tigers, O'Neal was twice named All-American and Player of the Year of the Southeastern Conference, and won the Adolph Rupp Prize for the best player of the year of the NCAA in 1991. In addition, in his third year he led the NCAA in tampons with 5.3 with match, he left the university as the top tampon in the history of the Tigers and became the first player to lead the Southeastern Conference in rebounds for three consecutive years since Charles Barkley.

A curious and quite forgotten fact is that, when the US National Team was formed for the Barcelona-92 Olympic Games, a team that was immortalized for history as the first and genuine "Dream Team", the American Federation yielded to media pressures and in addition to the selected 11 best players in the NBA (among which were legends such as Michael Jordan, "Magic" Johnson, Larry Bird or Karl Malone) left a position for a player from the NCAA (university championship) , a traditional non-professional nursery that the American Olympic team always nurtured. Shaquille O'Neal was part of the final three of candidate candidates for the post, along with Alonzo Mourning and Christian Laettner, who was finally chosen and who had the honor of being part of that legendary and legendary team, although, curiously, later he did a professional career far from the level of play and stardom reached by Mourning and, above all, by O'Neal, who was the favorite in the election and against whom it was speculated that the vast majority of African-American players already included could weigh, Eight out of eleven.

O'Neal returned in 2000 to Louisiana State University and received the Bachelor of Arts in General Studies. He graduated with a PHD from Barry University in Miami in May 2012. 11 He was subsequently included in the University Hall of Fame

Playing style
Shaq O'Neal became the most dominant force with the largest presence in the NBA, his 2.16 height and 147 kg (163 kg in seasons 6-12 of his career) made him famous for his physical presence.

His most characteristic movement was the "Drop step" (O'Neal himself defined it as "Black Tornado"), where after receiving the ball, he turned on himself to make a mate, this contributed to being the second player with the highest percentage of hits in field shots, behind Wilt Chamberlain.

However, his biggest flaw was to be a lousy free throw thrower, O'Neal himself blamed him for psychological issues, because in training he averaged 80% of success, while in his NBA career he averaged 52.7%. His biggest record of missed free throws was against Seattle SuperSonics in 2000, with 11. Rival teams used to take advantage of this weakness, committing many fouls on O'Neal (which was defined as "Hack-a-Shaq") .

O'Neal was also a good defender, being part three times of the best second defensive quintet in the NBA, his presence also helped intimidate the rivals, which made him have an average of 2.3 blocks per game.