NBA
Where Does Shaq Rank Himself on the NBA All-Time Greatest Players List?
Luke Norris began his sportswriting career in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2020. The former Section Editor of the NFL and Motorsports sections, he now spends his time here in the role of Senior Writer-Programmer. His well-rounded sports knowledge allows him to cover the NFL, NBA, PGA Tour, MLB, boxing, WWE, and NASCAR for Sportscasting. Luke is an avid golfer who finds inspiration in the way sports can bring people together and provide a distraction from the real world. He hopes to provide a little entertainment or an escape from the real world with every article he writes, even if only for a few minutes. In addition to his work here at Sportscasting, Luke's work has appeared on The Sportster, Inquisitr, GiveMeSport, FanSided, Yahoo! Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated.
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It’s always interesting to see what the NBA’s all-time greats think of themselves, isn’t it? Michael Jordan won’t officially come out and say it but he’s long told plenty of people how much better he was than them. LeBron James has zero problem calling himself the greatest player of all time. Kobe Bryant knew he could get in people’s heads and constantly reminded them of his skills. But exactly how does Shaq think of himself? Well, we now have somewhat of an answer.
In response to an Instagram post, Shaquille O’Neal revealed where he’d put himself on a list of the top 10 all-time greats in the NBA.
Shaquille O’Neal’s NBA career
Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most dominant players in NBA history. Over the course of 19 NBA seasons with six teams, Shaq averaged 23.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game and accrued an amazing list of accolades.
He won the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1993 with the Orlando Magic and led them to the NBA Finals in his third year. He signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996 and went on to win the NBA MVP in 2000 and three consecutive NBA titles, winning Finals MVP in each series. He won a fourth title with the Miami Heat in 2006.
Shaq was a 15-time NBA All-Star, a three-time All-Star Game MVP, a 14-time All-NBA selection (8 First Team, 2 Second Team, 3 Third Team), a two-time scoring champion, and a three-time All-Defensive selection. He ended his career with 28,596 points, good for eighth on the all-time scoring list. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.
Shaq is included in a top-10 list of the NBA’s all-time greatest players
On March 26, 2020, Instagram user @nbachemistry posted a list of who he thought were the top 10 players in NBA history and it’s obviously quite the list. He gave explanations on why certain players were placed where they were as these types of lists are naturally going to bring arguments and comments on why it’s right or why it’s not. With Michael Jordan at the top, this is how the list played out.
- Michael Jordan
- LeBron James
- Hakeem Olajuwon
- Larry Bird
- Tim Duncan
- Kobe Bryant
- Magic Johnson
- Shaquille O’Neal
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Bill Russell
There are certainly plenty of discussions to be had there but it’s certainly an amazing list of players. Every single player on that list has won multiple NBA titles and at least one Most Valuable Player award. So how did Shaq himself react to the post?
Shaq reacts to the list
The list certainly made the rounds, racking up close to 400,000 likes in 24 hours. ESPN analyst jumped in the conversation, saying that there was no way he’d put Hakeem Olajuwon ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And even Shaquille O’Neal himself jumped in, saying he had no problem with the list, although he’d move it around just a little bit.
Sitting at eighth, the same place he sits on the all-time scoring list, Shaq said he wasn’t mad at the list but would actually move himself down a couple of notches to the 10th spot, which seems to indicate that although he might not see himself above Kareem or Russell, he does still consider himself a top-10 player in NBA history.
