what happens if you're a basketball player that can't shoot you would think that you'd never be able to play in the NBA right well you're 100% correct unless your name happens to be Shaquille O'Neal one of the world's best and most famous basketball players of all time with just one single three-pointer made in 19 years and over 5,000 Miss free throws it's no surprise that Kobe Bryant even started hating him for it but how is it then possible that he managed to in for championships three finals MVPs and even a spot in the top 10
scores list of all time well it all begins in Newark New Jersey on the 6th of March 1972 when Lucille O'Neal gave birth to a baby boy she would named Shaquille rashan O'Neal a Muslim name which translates to Little Warrior the young boy was almost double the size of his peers meaning he often struggled to fit in causing him to develop self-confidence issues he also lacked guidance as his biological father did want to be in his life and it seemed likely the young boy was destined for a life identical to those around him however this
was all about to change you see Lucille had met a man by the name of Sergeant Philip Harrison someone she would fall in love with and thankfully for Shaq Sergeant Harrison was about to change his life because as a Christmas gift he bought their pair of tickets to go and watch the New York Knicks play the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden Shaq would watch an awe as Dr J flew through the air and he would feel the Roar of the crowd igniting a flame within him that would never be put out O'Neal knew then
and there exactly what he wanted to do informing his father I want to become an NBA player Sergeant Harrison was ecstatic telling his son I will make you the best big man of all time in 1982 the O'Neal family would move to an army base in Germany as Shaq's father wanted to get them away from the violence and crime in New Jersey whilst the little warrior was devastated to be leaving all of his friends nework behind it was at this army base where he would meet someone who would change his life forever because a few
years after they arrived Louisiana State University head coach Dale Brown was on base running a camp for their basketball team but unfortunately for Shaq he wasn't on their team because he was cut as a freshman despite this his father forced him to attend coach Brown's post Camp talk Shaq unsure what to say asked for advice on how to jump higher and the LSU coach assumed the young O'Neal was a soldier due to his insane size so when Shaquille told him he was only 13 his eyes lit up D knew then and there he had to
get the shy teenager to play for him at Louisiana Coach Brown would write to the young man every single week sending him VHS tapes of games or other dominant bigs to study as well as a strength program to help him increase his vertical leaping ability as shockingly Shaq still wasn't able to dunk but thankfully for the young man his father would help him the only only way he knew how before his junior year in high school the o'neals would move once again this time to San Antonio where Shaquille would finally make his High School varsity
team at Robert G Cole High Shaq was dominant but he wasn't fulfilling his true potential as during a regular season game he attacked the basket hard only to miss a simple layup his father would then storm onto the court and force his son to call a timeout taking him outside and letting him know stop trying to be Dr J B Shaquille O'Neal this advice flipped a switch in Shaq's head he was angry he would return to the game and dunk with such Force his opponents began to move out of his way Shaq would take his
anger out on the room but it was never his goal to break a backboard no it was something deeper he wanted his opponents to fear him thanks to this mindset shift he began to truly dominate playing each game with extreme force however the young man still had a key floor in his game you see Cole High School would make it all the way to the regional final where Shaq had the opportunity to tie the game late at the free throw line however he would miss both and his team would be eliminated by Liberty High School
Shaq was devastated and vowed to never let his team down like that ever again it was thanks to this refreshed Focus that the teenager carried his team to a 35-0 record throughout his senior season and it was clear Shaquille was ready to move on to Collegiate basketball however there was one final hurdle he had to jump before he could take that that next step you see once again Cole would faced Liberty High School in the 1989 Regional final but this time Shaq dropped 44 points on route to an impressive win which would allow them an
opportunity to play for a state championship once more throughout their State final O'Neal was dominant but this time it was on the defensive side of the floor blocking shot after shot his Newfound defensive press lead K High to win a Texas state championship fulfilling the promise he made after failing at the free throw line one year ago despite having office from much higher ranked colleges it was Shaq's loyalty to LSU's Coach Brown that led him to commit to play division one basketball in Louisiana all the way back in November of 1988 far before he really
began to flourish but despite being one of the most dominant players in America O'Neal would face some issues in his first year at College you see upon arrival for his freshman season in 1989 LSU already had two star players a guard who many considered to be the original Steph Curry Chris Jackson who would later change his name to mmud Abdul rou and another dominant 7-footer Stanley Roberts the Stacked roster meant O'Neal would go from being the star player in high school to the third option causing tension between himself and Stanley as the pair battled for
the starting center role however it was Roberts who earned that spot throughout Shaquille's freshman season and despite coming off the bench shawood average 13.9 points 12 rebounds and and an incredible 3.6 blocks per game and something would change at LSU because unfortunately for Stanley he became academically ineligible to play during O'Neal's softball season freeing up the starting center position an opportunity Shaquille ran with over his next 2 years at LSU sha would average 25.8 points pull down 14.3 rebounds and block an insane 5.1 shots per game it was thanks to these performances that the 20-year-old
was named as the national player of the year but despite earning this incredible individual Accolade LSU struggled to compete for a national championship due to one key flaw with sha you see throughout his three-year collegiate career Defenders would just foul him if they got beat but isn't this a terrible idea well O'Neal would only make an average of 57% of his free throws during his time at LSU therefore it was often better to take the gamble at the free throw line then let him tear your rooms off the backboard and this floor cost him because
LSU would never Advance further than the second round at the March Madness Tournament only winning two games while losing three at the big dance despite this flaw the NBA was calling but Shaq would lay awake at night doubting his ability to succeed at the professional level comparing himself to Duke Stand Out Christian leer leer in O'Neal's eyes was a bitter player because he had it all a jump shot a handle and Shaq thought that he would be the number one pick not himself but even though Shaq was unsure he would be the top pick the
NBA sure wasn't because every single Lottery team snuck in an O'Neal number one Jersey ready to hold it up if they were fortunate enough to land the top pick the NBA draft lottery would come down to two final teams the Charlotte Hornets and the Orlando Magic the second pick in the 1992 NBA draft goes to the Charlotte Hornets and that means Orlando's got it you kidding me that the Orlando Magic will pick first in the 1992 NBA draft and just a few weeks later let's go now to David Stern for the first selection of 1992
with the first pick in the 1992 NBA draft the Orlando Magic selects Shaquille O'Neal from Louisiana State University Shaq had finally achieved his dream of becoming an NBA player and he was ready to dominate the NBA the same way he did in college and high school but doubt still lingered in his mind while it often takes rookies a few months to adjust to the NBA play style and playing against grown men the Orlando number one pick would average 25.8 points 16.4 rebounds and 3.4 blocks in his first five games for the magic this insane start
would have Shaq named as the NBA player of the week in just his first week playing in the NBA a feat that had never been achieved before Shaquille had arrived throughout the rest of his rookie season O'Neal would help Orlando add an extra 20 wins to their record but the magic would face a key issue you see they would play the Phoenix Suns early in Sha's rookie year and late in the game Phoenix did this they foul Shaquille O'Neal this gets the magic to within one Matt gcas watching as he could have tied it a
53% foul shooter does not get it done their reasoning for this was simple but he has a weakness he's missed 23 of his last 37 free throws it was du to Sha's poor free throw shooting that Orlando would miss the playoffs by Four Points however this might actually be a blessing in disguise because just a couple weeks after the season ended the rising star would meet someone who would have a huge impact on his basketball career you see Shaq didn't just dream of becoming an NBA star he dreamed of becoming a rapper as well as
an actor so he would get himself a role in a basketball themed movie Blue Chips it was on set that Shaquille would meet another Rising Star Anthony Hardway who was nicknamed Penny by his grandmother Anthony had just finished his college career during the filming of Blue Chips and was set to enter the NBA draft while filming Shaq and Penny developed a great Bond resulting in Shaq telling Orlando that they should draft Hardway in the 1993 NBA draft but Anthony was a projected top five pick and Orlando thanks to their new found success were likely to
be picking late in the lottery with the 13th or 14th pick however what would happen during the draft lottery was nothing short of a miracle because despite having a 1 in 66 chance of Landing the number one pick somehow someway Orlando was crowned champions of the lottery 2 years in a row as the 1993 draft began Orlando to the surprise of almost no one would select who many believed to be the best player in the draft the first pick in the 1993 NBA draft the Orlando Magic select Chris Weber and Golden State would be the
team to select penny with their third so did Orlando ignore their future Superstars request to draft his new found friend well ladies and gentlemen I'd like to report a trade [Applause] Orlando has traded the draft rights to Chris Weber to Golden [Applause] State in exchange for the draft rights to Anthony Hardway and three future first round draft picks just like the start of a senior season in high school Shaq was hungry to prove to the NBA he was more than a dunking machine and in fact was a superstar level player capable of leading his team
to the NBA Playoffs throughout the 1993 1994 season the sophomore Center would record an insane 53 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves but even more insane was recording his first ever career triple double but not with assists no Shaq scored 24 points grabbed 28 rebounds and had 15 blocks 15 and it wasn't just scoring and blocking shots that O'Neal provided you see because he was so physically dominant opposing teams often had to send multiple players to try and slow him down resulting in his teammates being far more open throughout the season this resulted in Orlando it
achieving something they had never done in the short history of their franchise as thanks to their new dynamic duo they would win 50 games earning them the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference their opponent for their first ever playoff series the Indiana Pacers heading into the series Indiana was the slight favorite as they had already been to the playoffs in the previous year but minum Shaq would be too much for Indiana to handle or would he throughout game one Shaq was his usual self scoring 24 points blocking five shots and only making two of his
six free throws leading Orlando to hold a two-point lead with 13.3 seconds remaining however despite O'Neal grabbing 19 rebounds throughout game one he missed the most crucial defensive rebound of the game giving Indiana another chance to tie or take the lead s seconds there it is wi got for three yes Orlando would lose game one by a single point with Shaquille missing the most important rebound of the game and leaving four vital points at the free throw line unfortunately this negative Trend continued throughout Games 2 and three the magic sick and your star would struggle
with foul trouble throughout both games resulting in the Pacers sweeping the magic crushing their Championship hopes but this was all about to change because on July 30th 1994 the Orlando Magic would make a huge move signing a three-time NBA champion power fordward stealing free agent Horus Grant away from the Chicago Bulls as well as signing their cross town Rivals free agent Brian Shaw during the 1994 1995 regular season Orlando would showcase their magic was Shaq finishing the regular season as the scoring champion averaging 29.3 points per game and his fellow Rising Star Penny Hardaway would
be named to the all NBA first team these incredible performances would result in Orlando finishing the season as the number one seed in the Eastern Conference Orlando and angry from their playoff failure the year before came out firing in their first round playoff series against the Celtics O'Neal would finish with 23 points and the magic would shockingly defeat Boston by 47 points in game one claiming the franchise's first ever playoff Victory this positive trend continued as the magic ended the series a few games later defeating the Celtics three games to one their next challenge was
a team that early on in the season would have been an easy sweep but that had changed with two simple words I'm back that's all Jordan said on Saturday that was really all Jordan needed to say as his 17-month retirement came to an end this would be O'Neal's first real test in the NBA as many touted him to be the face of the NBA while MJ was retired but could a big man that struggles to make half of his free throws really lead his team past the Chicago balls because their head coach Phil Jackson opted
to double down on fouling sha if any of the Bulls players ever got beat they were instructed to foul O'Neal hard preferring to put him on the line rather than give up easy dunks however for the first time in the superstars career this strategy backfired O'Neal would make 12 of his 16 attempts finishing with 26 points and a three-point Victory perhaps Shaq was figuring out his shooting form after all or was it just luck the series would Teeter back and forth throughout the next three games resulting in the series being tied at 2 each and
throughout the must-win game five it wasn't just their freak of nature big man that led the way no it was their whole team sha scored 23 peny 19 Horus Grant 24 and Dennis Scott 22 resulting in an 8po Victory placing the magic just one win away from an Eastern Conference Finals debut game six was a back and forth battle both teams exchanged clutch bucket after clutch bucket but once again Orlando's allaround approach was too much for the Bulls who would shockingly lose resulting in Orlando being the team to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals
however while many assumed Chicago would be their biggest challenge in the playoffs the team waiting for them was one who had already dominated them a season ago but Shaquille was hungry to prove to the world that despite Michael Jordan returning he was the true face of the new NBA era and to prove this he would drop 32 in game 1 and 39 in game two while shooting a very impressive 70% from the free throw line leading Orlando to hold a commanding 20 series lead but Shaq would run into some issues over the next two games
games as the Pacers began to relentlessly attack the room causing the young professional to pick up foul after foul resulting in the center only playing 30 minutes during Games 3 and 4 and it only gets worse you see while it seemed like O'Neal had been fixing his main floor games three and four showed that was likely a fluke because Shaq would miss 10 of his 12 free throw attempts while only scoring 34 points combined over both games these struggles resulted in Indiana tying the series at two wins each and many began to wonder perhaps Indiana
was just perfectly matched up for Shaq and Orlando hitting into the must-win game five at home in Florida O'Neal knew he had to step up and put his team on his back otherwise they risked being a single game away from being eliminated so Shaquille would score 35 points and while he continued to struggle from the line missing 10 of his 19 attempts he was just too dominant placing his team just a single win away from the NBA Finals but Rie Miller who had been stuck in the the Eastern Conference failing to get past Patrick ying
and his New York Knicks as well as the Celtics ever since he entered the NBA was determined to make his NBA Finals debut this determination LED Miller to drop a mind-blowing 36 points on 69% shooting on route to a dominant 27-point game six Victory the stage was set a win or go home game seven in Orlando the magic had one clear goal throughout slow Reggie Miller down and let Shaq be sha Miller would strugle all game long only scoring 12 points while Shaq would lead Orlando with 25 resulting in an incredible 24 point game seven
Victory everyone within the Orlando Magic Community was overjoyed their franchise which was only six seasons old had achieved an incredible feat an NBA Finals debut a parade was held to celebrate and multiple magic players would use the time off between the two series to party a decision that would have drastic consequences because Orlando was set to face the defending champ ions of the NBA the Houston Rockets who were led by one of the greatest bigs of all time and one of Sha's Idols hakee the dream Elijah one but the magic just kept Rising as they
would hold a 20-point lead throughout the second quarter and everyone just assumed the team making their NBA Finals debut would be victorious but hakee wasn't going to let that happen throughout the third and fourth quarters Elijah Wan alongside teammates Clyde Drexler and Kenny The Jet Smith would bring Houston back to within three points in the final fin minute and hakee had the ball one-on-one vers Shaquille ready to cut the lead to a single point however Shaq would showcase his defensive dominance forcing the dream into a travel meaning all the magic had to do was make
one more shot and game one would be theirs despite missing multiple game-winning attempts every offensive rebound the magic got put them closer and closer to Victory forcing Houston to foul Nick Anderson all NEC needed to do was make one free throw and the game would be over Rockets have difficulties at the line this season particularly in fourth quarters today though Orlando 12 of 15 at but he didn't yet luckily for Anderson the ball perfectly missed right back into his hands forcing Kenny to have to foul him once again giving him a chance to redeem himself
for his failure a few seconds ago going to do it by committee and another Miss by Nick Anderson Well the three to make four rule that's that's in effect I believe go and he misses four straight Houston called timeout and their NBA champion point guard Kenny Smith would nail a three to send the game into overtime and hits he's TI the game throughout extra time Houston's experience would shine because in the final position with 5.5 seconds remaining and the scores tied drixler would beat Anderson forcing Shaq to have to step up and help leaving elijahwan
wide open to tip the Miss in Houston had won game one this negative Trend would continue throughout the next three games as Houston would win backto back NBA championships sweeping the Orlando Magic Shaquille would reflect years later in his book sharing that he gave his Idol hakee way too much respect when he should have gone out there and decimated him to prove that he was the best big man in the NBA before you succeed you must learn how to fail and I just hope that I don't have to you know fail many more time O'Neal
vowed that when he got back to the NBA finals he would destroy his opponent showing them no mercy however it might be quite a few more years until he gets that chance because unfortunately for Shaq he would face some key issues firstly Penny Hardway had signed a Max contract over the offseason and made the Orlando Magic front office promis him one thing that he would always be the highest paid player on the magic secondly O'Neal faced some injury woes early on in the season breaking his thumb in an exhibition game against the Miami Heat forcing
him to miss the first 2 months of the regular season and finally Shaq would face some personal issues because at the start of April his grandmother Odessa chamblas someone who raised Shaq into the man he is today tragically passed away devastated Shaq took time away from the team informing head coach Brian Hill of his reasoning and everyone accepted until Orlando was set to face Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls later on that week resulting in coach Hill completely changing his mind telling the media he had no idea where Shaq was and that he was expecting
him to play against the Bulls The Grieving O'Neal upset by what he was reading hopped on a flight showed up in the second quarter and still managed to score 21 points but despite Shaq's Superman likee a Ral Orlando still lost to the Bulls Shaquille was upset not because of the loss but due to coach Hill's Sudden Change in demeanor making him feel like he was just a player for the magic not a young man going through his first real loss a few months later motivated to get revenge for their second round exit the year before
Jordan and his Chicago teammates would decimate Orlando in the Eastern Conference Finals ending their hopes of going back to another NBA Finals Shaq once again was crushed but things were only going to get worse you see as contract negotiations began Orlando was unwilling to pay O'Neal more than Penny Hardway offering him $69 million over 7 years which Shaq would deny news of this would get out to the public and the Orlando Centennial would run a poll asking is Shaq worth the $15 million he's asking for the response 91.3% of people said no it became clear
to Shaquille that despite caring the magic to their first NBA Finals he was no longer welcome in Orlando 12th of July 1996 Los Angeles Lakers general manager Jerry West has just gotten off the phone with the Charlotte Hornets finally completing a trade to land a player he believes is the next big thing in the NBA West has just traded his big man vlady Divas for the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA draft the self-proclaimed Will Smith of the NBA Kobe Bryant now all West had to do was find someone to pair with his new Dynamic
shooting guard and with the extra money he saved by removing Dart he knew exactly who to go after so Jerry would call Shaq's agent and offer him a $120 million contract over seven years so O'Neal became a Laker however whilst Jerry knew he had a combination capable of winning Championship after Championship it would take the peer quite a few years to realize their potential because in their first season together in the 1996 1997 season La would get defeated by the eventual NBA finalist the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs throughout the 1997
1998 season progress would get made with the Lakers this time advancing all the way to the West and Conference Finals but once again they just weren't good enough to beat the Jazz but they were clearly progressing as a team yet things weren't all positive because West who had made great move after great move for the team decided to fire head coach Dell Harris and promote his top assistant Kurt ramas to the lead position while many felt this move was needed it was this change that started some issues within the Lakers you see Kobe Bryant and
Shaquille O'Neal were both Alphas who felt like they should be the center of the offense and neither one of wanted to be the robin to the others Batman but rampus would change this you see throughout the lockout Shan 1998 1999 season the now 20-year-old Bryant would see a massive increase in his role Kobe would go from being a bench player who only started seven games in his career so far to starting every single night thanks to Kurt while no one within La was upset about this the issue was with how Kobe played because he would
often try to take defenses on by himself holding the ball for full positions without looking to pass or at least get the ball through other hands causing a rift within the Lakers it was this tension that caused Los Angeles for the third season in a row to be eliminated from the playoffs Shaq yet again was devastated all he wanted to do was win and the expectations began to affect him because people would complement his game yet it was always followed up with but they said he spent too much time on movies and rap albums Shaquille
can do this but Jerry knew he had to do something to remedy the situation he had specifically peered Shaq and Kobe knowing full well that if they just worked together they could win five championships without breaking a sweat and thankfully for West help was on the way because another NBA general manager by the name of Jerry Jerry Krauss who built the Chicago Bulls Dynasty that won six NBA championships throughout the 1990s had decided to let his star hit coach Phil Jackson go after the 1997 1998 season coach Jackson was responsible for aligning a Bulls roster
that was loaded with superstars and getting their star player Michael Jordan to buy in to winning as a team rather than playing as individuals while many were unsure if Phil would actually return to the NBA the opportunity of working with a roster as talented as La was too hard for the six-time champion to turn down to help remedy the issues between Shaq and Kobe Phil knew he had to find a great point guard someone who could distribute the ball evenly within their offensive system which would be focused around O'Neal not Kobe so Jerry West signed
former Orlando Magic point guard Brian Shaw and the Lakers got off to an incredible start Shaquille would have his best individual season in the NBA so far he was now the true focal point of their offense allowing him to drop 61 points on his birthday and it wasn't just O'Neal who was dominant the Lakers would win 30 of their final 31 games finishing with one of the greatest all-time win loss records ending the season with 67 wins and 15 losses O'Neal would average nearly 30 points three blocks and 14 rebounds a game resulting in the
star being named as the NBA's most valuable player making it clear La was ready to win an NBA title their first hurdle the Sacramento Kings continuing this impressive run the 28-year-old big man would drop an insane 46 points in game one alongside five blocks and Kobe would decimate the king's defense in game two scoring thir 32 points the Lakers Duo destroyed Sacramento placing them just a single win away from moving on to the second round but the kings were hungry you see Chris Weber never forgot about Shaq asking Orlando to trade him for his friend
and darts wanted to prove that he should have been the Lakers Center therefore Sacramento would dominate games three and four they would attack O'Neal's weak point as Shaq would attempt 26 free throws but only make 10 resulting in the series being tied at two games each perhaps the duo that's supposed to win five NBA titles was never going to work maybe Shaq's free throw struggles would forever prevent him from winning an NBA title however Shaq wasn't going to let his team down he wanted nothing more than to win his first NBA championship therefore he would
score 32 points in game five leading LA to a huge 27-point Victory against the Kings the MVP had proven that he was the most dominant player in the NBA and this success continued throughout their next matchup against the Phoenix Suns Shaquille would drop 37 in game 1 38 in game 2 and 37 in game three once again carrying LA to a series Victory earning them a chance to make the NBA Finals however they would run into their toughest test yet the Portland Trailblazers who were led by six-time NBA champion Scotty Pippen as well as their
dominant Center are vus sabonis yet this defensive-minded lineup wasn't enough to stop the center from scoring 41 points in their game one Victory setting the tone for the rest of the series however Portland would use a very familiar strategy now dubbed hack a shack and simply put La success depended on Shaquille making free throws in the games they won he made 20 on 38 attempts and in the games they lost 15 from 39 making it clear if they were going to win game seven O'Neal would have to make his free throws but before Shaq could
win or lose the game at the free throw line La found themselves down 15 points to start the fourth quarter Shaquille had been through so much in his 8-year NBA career and he wasn't going to miss out on the finals once again therefore throughout the final quarter La would slowly crawl their way back eventually tying the game at 75 all with 4 minutes remaining however Portland would go back to the same strategy that worked in the three [Applause] wins it has to be just for defensive purposes sha T it Shaq would then score a beautiful
jump hook in the Knicks position and with 45 seconds remaining this happen the lers have two Brian [Applause] to for the second back in time Shaquille had made it to the NBA finals but the self-doubt would creep in once again was I good enough to achieve this thankfully for Shaq a certain someone told him something that completely changed his Outlook with his mother reminding him you were the happiest and most positive little boy I've ever seen now draw on that positive thinking as a grown man Shaquille O'Neal would have one of the most dominant NBA
finals of all time scoring 43 points in game 1 40 in game 2 33 in game three 36 in game four 35 in game 5 and 41 in game 6 on route to winning his first ever NBA championship against the Indiana Pacers Shaq would Embrace his Superstar teammate as tears ran down his face because after eight grueling Seasons he had finally achieved his lifelong goal this incredible string of games would earn O'Neal the finals MVP award meaning he had won the All-Star MVP regular season MVP and the finals MVP a defeat only achieved by two
other players sha would spend his offseason recovering his role meant he spent most of his nights getting absolutely destroyed by his Defenders as well as enjoying the fruits of his labor but it was this rest that started to cause issues within the Lakers because the same player who embraced him just a few weeks ago was already back in the gym preparing to win back-to- back NBA titles thanks to his hard work Kobe would arrive to training camp for the 2201 NBA season in in the bare shape of his career compared to O'Neal who arrived out
of shape Kobe was pissed why is it that this guy who lost us multiple games and nearly cost us a championship because of his terrible free throw shooting gets to spend the whole offseason relaxing and not working on his game yet he's the main guy that should be me Bryant wasn't going to let Phil Jackson dictate who should run the show he was going to go out and take that role from Shaq this mindset was most evident in a regular season game against the Golden State Warriors who were one of the worst teams in the
NBA That season Kobe would attempt 35 shots throughout this overtime game a game that should have never gone into overtime in the first place you see most of these 35 shots were Bryant ignoring his teammates just looking to force his way to a victory rather than playing as a team resulting in a three-point loss O'Neal was beside himself and while general manager Jerry West would usually calm Shaquille down he had been Let Go by the Lakers owner Jerry bus over the offseason and Mitch cupchic had been hired to replace him the rift between the peer
was coming to a breaking point but something fortunately unfortunate would happened to Kobe towards the end of the season because he would sprain his ankle forcing him to miss multiple games therefore the Lakers got back to how they played in their previous Championship run the ball returned to Shaquille's hands and the offense began to flow once again meanwhile Kobe was sitting on the bench observing the Lakers play Beautiful team basketball and while many thought Bryant would come back and try to do the exact same thing it was quite the opposite you see upon his return
he would start to buy back in to their team focused offense Kobe's way of saying okay I was wrong let's win another title and thankfully for the Lakers this was just in time for their first round playoff series a rematch of their epic battle against the Portland Trailblazers but this time it wasn't even close with the Lakers sweeping the Blazers and it gets even crazier because just like the Blazers a team who took them to seven games in 2000 their next matchup was the Sacramento Kings another team who took them all the way to an
elimination game as well however just like Portland they got swept as well surely their Western Conference Finals match up the San Antonio Spurs led by 1999 Champion David Robinson and Tim Duncan would put up a fight nah the Lakers swept them too Los Angeles seemed Unstoppable going 11 and 0 on route to their NBA Finals matchup against the 2001 NBA most valuable player Ellen Iverson as well as the 2001 Defensive Player of the Year D kimbe matombo who played for the Eastern Conference champions the Philadelphia 76ers the stage was set this would be the Lakers
chance to go back to back as NBA champs however Ellen Iverson had a different plan dropping in insane 48 points throughout game one which included this insane [Music] play [Music] I how about that over to Ron L despite Shea scoring 44 points he missed 12 free throws throughout the game resulting in the 76ers handing the Lakers their first playoff loss that season and things would only get worse for LA because the NBA used to use a 2 32 series layout in the finals the higher seated team would play the first two games at home and
then head to the lower Seeds home court for the next three meaning if the Lakers lost game two they would be down two games to zero hitting into Phil Adelphia essentially making game two a game seven while Shaq would only score 28 points in game two he impacted LA on the other side of the floor recording an insane eight blocks throughout the must-win game two resulting in a nine-point Lakers Victory however O'Neal would run into a huge issue late in game three because the Superstar fouled out after elbowing to kimbe on a postm move meaning
la would have to rely on its other players to win game three thankfully for Shaq Kobe was to the r the and a couple of possessions later Robert Big Shot Bob ay would close the game out B out of Bryan's hands but La was just two wins away from their backto back dreams once again in games four and five no one not even the defensive player of the year could slow O'Neal down as he would drop 34 points in game four and 29 in game five crowning La as backto back NBA champions and Shaq would
win his second Finals MVP he told you going to get another one the Lakers were well on their way to fulfill Jerry West's vision of five NBA championships and for once there would be no drama throughout the 20012 2002 season everything was smooth sailing as the Lakers cruised to another Western Conference Finals except this time it was against a team hungry to get revenge and prove that they were the best team in California the Sacramento Kings you see over the course of the past three seasons the Kings have been developing as a unit and adding
Vancouver Grizzlies guard Mike BBY over the offseason helped them to grab the number one seed in the Western Conference it would be this offseason acquisition who led them to a three games to two series lead after bbby hit the game-winning shot in game five Shaq was just one loss away from being eliminated from his three p dreams saw this look one other time in my career and that was on the faces of the Detroit Pistons in the 91 Eastern Conference Finals when after years and years of beating the chic Bulls they were about to be
swept out of the playoffs are you telling me we're looking into the future I don't know but it looks the same but the big man who many believed to be just as dominant as MJ wasn't going to let his team down O'Neal would drop 41 points throughout this elimination game a dominant performance that was supported by his teammate Kobe who added 31 points of his own resulting in the Lakers living another day forcing a deciding game seven back in Sacramento it all came down to to this whoever wins heads to the NBA finals for the
Lakers a chance to three repeat for the Kings an opportunity to achieve something their franchise never had done before but the Lakers had something the Kings didn't our experience will probably help us uh down the stretch as far as our Poise and Kobe would share an iconic quote Cal Bells never blocked my jump shot and uh you know especially in the game seven the Kings and the Lakers traded bucket for bucket sha would drop 35 Kobe had 30 Mike bbby chimed in with 29 and Chris wher 20 but no moment was more important than this
one because with one minute 32 seconds remaining in overtime the scores were locked at 106 so the king smartly went to a strategy that had worked so well throughout O'Neal's career coming back to sh gets position and is fouled but what happened next was nothing short of a miracle l 12 for 23 for the field 10 of 14 at the line 34 points make a 30 crucially giving La a two-point lead and shortly after Kobe sealed the game at the free throw line therefore La was off to their third NBA finals in a row awaiting
them was the New Jersey Nets another team that had been transformed by trading for a point guard over the offseason Jason kid had revolutionized the Nets over the 20012 2002 season and he had this to say about O'Neal nobody's come up with a way to stop sha if it was 20,000 people here you could have put them all on the floor you still not going to stop that guy I think the best way to defeat him is to try to figure out what car he's going to drive and put sand or something in the gas
tank or sugar cuz uh if he makes it to the arena you're going to be in trouble kid couldn't have been more on the money as Shaq would score 36 in game 1 40 in game 2 35 in game three and 34 in game four on route to sweep keeping the New Jersey Nets crowning La as backto backto back NBA champions Shaquille would win his third Finals MVP and the Lakers began their quest to win four NBA titles in a row but this is where things would start to unravel for the Lakers because as usual
O'Neal used the offseason to recover and he opted to delay a toe surgery until the season began saying I got injured on company time so I'll recover on company time this statement frustrated Kobe Bryant who was hry to one up his Idol Michael Jordan however the wear and tear on O'Neal as well as the rest of the Lakers excluding Brian of course was evident throughout their four Pat run while they would get past the first round their second round opponent the San Antonio Spurs would get revenge for their 2001 playoff sweep eliminating La in six
games while being defeated was devastating something else happened during that playoff series because Kobe had multiple insane performances scoring 39 in game two 35 in game three and 36 in game four Bryant was clearly a superstar On The Rise and he was ready to take over Shaq's role as the main offensive option making how he felt blatantly clear to the media before the 2003 2004 season began Kobe and Sha's issues which had seemed to disappear during their three Pat run would start back up again to the point where the Lakers told the pair if they
made any more comments they would be fined so they agreed not to slander each other in the media but but literally a few hours later ESPN reporter Jim Gray would release an interview where Kobe would unleash how he truly felt being critical of Shaq's conditioning during training camp and implying he was ready to be the face of the Los Angeles Lakers O'Neal would arrive at the Lakers facility the next morning ready to kill Kobe the Pear's beef had reached its boiling point it was clear they were no longer going to work together so after Los
Angeles was eliminated by the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 20 05 NBA Finals the Lakers had to make a decision do we go with Kobe or Shaq long term however before any of this even happened O'Neal knew his fate he knew all the way back in 2000 when Jerry West left that if it ever came down to it Lakers owner Jerry bus and general manager Mitch cup would choose Bryant over him so the search would begin for a new home with one thing in mind you see Shaquille was well aware he couldn't singlehandedly carry a
team team no he needed to find another Superstar to play with luckily for O'Neal there was a team with a young Rising shooting guard Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat O'Neal would arrive in Miami shortly before the 2004 2005 season ready to do one thing remember this CU I'm going to bring a championship to Miami I promise and something was different about the big man because he had learned some huge lessons in his time in LA therefore he would ensure his time started in Miami on a positive note would work hard all season to meet
Miami Heat president Pat Riley's strict body fat percentage of 10% and he would build a slightly different relationship with his new star partner this time Shaq wasn't going to be Batman he was going to be D Wade's Robin and something positive would happen because throughout their first season together Shaq helped add an extra 17 wins allowing the heat for the first time since the 1997 season to make the Eastern Conference Finals making it clear Shaq didn't need Kobe to win a title or did he because throughout the seven game series Shaq once again shot a
terrible 44% from the free throw line resulting in Detroit for the second year in a row eliminating Shaq from Championship contention but things were about to change because Pat Riley was pissed he had bought in the most dominant big man in the NBA but they failed to make it out of the Eastern Conference so Riley knew he had to make make some moves he began with resigning Shaq to A Team friendly deal Shaq did this to allow Pat to bring in key veterans Gary Peyton and Antoine Walker and the crazy thing is Pat Riley wasn't
done after a horrible start head coach Dan Van Gundy resigned and Pat Riley made himself their head coach resulting in a 41 win 20 loss ends to the 2005 206 season but something unfortunate would happen in their first round series against the Chicago Bulls because after they went up two games to zero they started to let their foot off the gas resulting in Chicago tying the series after game four and Shaq's issues were becoming worse and worse as he didn't make a single free throw in their two losses however it was ultimately these L's that
helped the heat gel together as a unit because they would rally back in game five and six with O'Neal scoring an impressive 30 points in their closeout game and as they moved into their second round series against against the New Jersey Nets it was clear they were all on the same page because after a small blip in game one they would win the next four with ease setting up a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Finals but this time they were ready with Shaq once again dominant in their final game scoring 28 as the heat
defeated the Pistons in six but again his shooting struggles were continuing to get worse because throughout that series he shot a career low 41% from the line speaking speaking of free throws it was San Antonio Spurs guard Manu janobi who fouled Dallas Maverick Superstar Durk Nowitzki at the end of their seven game Western Conference Finals series resulting in Nowitzki icing the game at the line therefore Miami's first ever NBA Finals opponent was the Dallas Mavericks rolling from their defeat of the defending NBA champions Dallas would dominate Miami in the first two games and Shaq as
usual shot a horrific two from 16 at the free throw line the Mavs became so confident they would be crowned as NBA champs that they published their Championship Parade route after winning games 1 and two head coach Pat Riley saw this bringing the article into Miami's locker room before game three to motivate his team this guy is planning a parade a clear Point had been made therefore slowly but surely Miami led by their Rising Superstar dwade would win game after game each Victory sucking the soul out of the one egotistical Dallas Mavericks to the point
where the heat retook the series and held a commanding three games to two lead hitting to Texas after their game five Victory Pat Riley had one clear instruction for game six and seven you are only allowed to bring one suit we are not going to be playing a game seven and as the players boarded their team plane he would check their luggage to ensure they followed his instructions throughout game six it was once again dwade who was dominant dropping 30 six points leading Miami to defeat Dallas and be crowned as NBA champions Shaq had proved
to the world that he didn't need Phil Jackson Kobe Bryant or the Lakers to win a title and he was [Music] ecstatic 1 2 3 Shaquille's incredible NBA career would come to an end 5 years later after short stance with the Phoenix Suns Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics Shaq ended his career having won four NBA titles three finals MVPs and is still to this day top 10 in scoring all time which is insane when you consider he missed over 5,000 free throws and only made 1 three throughout his incredible 19-year NBA career however did you
know there is a dominant big man who is playing right now who is the exact opposite of Shaq a player that has zero athleticism but still managed to win three MVPs an NBA title and a Finals MVP well their player is nicoa yic and you can hear more about his inspiring story by clicking on the video on your screen right now
