Shaquille O'Neal biography
Shaquille O’Neal, in full Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal, byname Shaq, (born March 6, 1972, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.), American basketball participant, named in 1996 to the National Basketball Association (NBA) checklist of its 50 best gamers of all time.
As a high-school senior in San Antonio, Texas, O’Neal attracted the eye of faculty recruiters when his crew gained the state championship. He attended Louisiana State University (LSU), the place he shortly established himself as among the finest gamers within the nation. He was named the consensus College Player of the Year in 1991. O’Neal left college and entered the NBA draft in 1992 and was taken with the primary choose by the Orlando Magic. In 2000, nonetheless, he completed his research and earned a level from LSU.
Named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1992–93, O’Neal led the Magic to a 41–41 report, 20 wins higher than the earlier season. Two years later he gained the scoring title and led Orlando to the finals in opposition to the Houston Rockets. After Houston’s sweep of the Magic, O’Neal developed a status for dropping huge video games. O’Neal’s nice dimension and energy—he stood 7 ft 1 inch (2.16 metres) tall and weighed 315 kilos (143 kg)—made him nearly unattainable to cease on the offensive finish of the court docket. He was, nonetheless, a poor free-throw shooter, and opponents adopted a technique (generally known as “Hack-a-Shaq”) of deliberately fouling him, understanding that he was much less more likely to make free throws than to attain a area aim.
O’Neal was a member of the U.S. Olympic basketball crew that gained the gold medal in 1996, the identical yr he joined the Los Angeles Lakers, the place he teamed with blossoming celebrity Kobe Bryant. Although O’Neal continued to dominate on offense, his groups continued to disappoint within the play-offs. That modified in 1999–2000, when, underneath new Lakers coach Phil Jackson, he grew to become the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). At Jackson’s urging, O’Neal grew to become extra of a crew participant, paying particular consideration to his protection, rebounding, and free-throw taking pictures. As a consequence, he led the Lakers to championships in 2001, 2002, and 2003, capturing the finals MVP award every year.
In 2004—after years of on-and-off feuding with Bryant, which had turn into a serious distraction throughout the Lakers group—O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat. There he teamed with the proficient younger guard Dwyane Wade to guide Miami to an NBA championship in 2006. Injuries restricted O’Neal’s manufacturing over the next seasons, and he was traded to the Phoenix Suns in February 2008. O’Neal’s taking part in model didn't combine nicely with the Suns’ up-tempo sport, and—regardless of having had a really strong 2008–09 season—he was dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009 as Phoenix started a rebuilding course of. He signed with the Boston Celtics in 2010, however an Achilles tendon harm restricted his play. O’Neal retired after the 2010–11 season. His profession totals embody 28,596 factors (the seventh highest complete in NBA historical past on the time of his retirement) and 15 All-Star Game picks. O’Neal was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
O’Neal had restricted success as a rapper and as an actor, starring in such function movies as Blue Chips (1994), Kazaam (1996), and Steel (1997). He voiced himself within the computer-animated The LEGO Movie (2014). His gregarious persona and appeal made him a well-liked pitchman all through his profession and helped him to turn into a commentator on an NBA tv studio present after his retirement.