Shaquille O’Neal – The Man behind the “Shaq Attack”

There are few people today who don’t recognize the name of Shaquille O’Neal, twice called one of the greatest basketball players of all time (by the NBA in 1996, and by Slam Magazine in 2003). Born in New Jersey in 1972, Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal quickly outgrew his name, which means “little warrior” in Arabic. In fact, when he was only 13 years old, future coach Dale Brown mistook O’Neal for a soldier. No wonder – the Little Warrior was already six and a half feet tall! Today, Shaquille O’Neal stands at 7 ft 1 in, wears a men’s size 22 shoe, and weighs 340 pounds.

Size alone is not what makes Shaquille O’Neal one of basketball’s greatest stars, however. O’Neal’s speed, agility, and amazing jumping ability first became clear when he was in high school, earning the High School Player of the Year award. Shaq, as he is commonly known, continued his stellar basketball career at Louisiana State University. Shaquille O’Neal graduated with an array of honors, including two All-American picks, two awards for Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, a national Player of the Year award – and a bachelor’s degree in business.

Shaquille O’Neal was snatched up by the Orlando Magic, who made him the NBA’s very first draft pick in 1992. The Orlando Magic had an undistinguished record since their foundation in 1988, and in 1992 held the NBA record for the longest losing streak. Shaquille O’Neal made a dramatic difference for the Magic, leading the team to 41 victories in his first year of play, nearly double previous year’s wins. The next season, the Magic added guard Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway to their roster, and he and Shaq led the Orlando Magic into the playoffs for the first time in their history.

The 94-95 basketball season was even more successful for Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic. That year, the Magic made it into the NBA finals for the first time, although they were shut out by the Houston Rockets. The Magic didn’t get a second chance at a title with Shaquille O’Neal – he transferred to the Los Angeles Lakers in the off season for a record breaking salary of $120 million a year. The Orlando Magic has not entered the finals since Shaq’s departure.

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A salary of unprecedented proportions was not the only thing that lured Shaquille O’Neal to the Lakers. The Los Angeles location was also a draw for Shaq, who has aspirations as a rapper and a movie star. Although O’Neal has produced five albums and appeared in movies, commercials, video games, and TV shows, his career in show business has not taken off.

After switching to the Lakers, Shaquille O’Neal teamed up with guard Kobe Bryant. Although the pair made a great combination on the court, they bickered constantly in the media and in person. The Lakers followed O’Neal and Bryant to NBA titles in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Shaq earned his salary as the highest paid player in basketball by achieving the highest average score for a center in the NBA, and taking the Most Valuable Player award for all three championship games. Nevertheless, tensions continued to increase between O’Neal and Bryant. Many experts blame the Lakers’ management’s unwavering backing of Bryant, despite sexual assault charges and difficulties with the coach, for Shaquille O’Neal’s decision to leave the team in 2004.

In July of 2004, Shaquille O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in exchange for three top players and a first round draft pick. Many experts thought that the Heat was giving up too much for a single player, but Shaq proved them wrong. O’Neal led the Heat to the head of the Eastern conference, narrowly missing the title in a close game. Meanwhile, the L.A. Lakers didn’t even make the playoffs.

The dismal record of the Lakers and the Orlando Magic after the departure of Shaquille O’Neal led to the phrase “The Curse of the Shaq-bino”, referring to the curse that supposedly fell on the Boston Red Sox after trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees.

Shaquille O’Neal has accepted a five year, hundred million dollar contract with the Miami Heat, but he is also preparing for the time when he will no longer be able to play basketball. O’Neal already suffers from severe arthritis in his right foot, a result of years of spinning and leaping with his 300-plus pound body. Shaq is well prepared, though. The intelligent, well-spoken basketball player has completed his MBA and has a deep interest in the police force. He became a reserve officer in Los Angeles after completing police academy, and earned an honorary title of U.S. Deputy Marshal. He is currently training with the Miami police department, and says that he wants to become a full time member of the police force after his basketball retirement.