Los Angeles Lakers: 30 greatest individual performances in team history: 19. Shaquille O’Neal a birthday like no other
It was the perfect storm for Shaquille O’Neal to score a career-high. The pathetic LA Clippers came strolling into town. The normally high volume shot attempts of Kobe Bryant were down considerably thanks to foul trouble and last but certainly not least, it was his birthday.
On a normal night, it was practically impossible to stop him but on this night, you could remove the word practically. O’Neal easily dropped 61 points and grabbed 23 boards. He was so dominant in fact, that he outscored the entire starting five of the Clippers by himself, 61-59.
It was an easy 20 point win for the Lakers but truth be told, everything came easy for the Lakers and O’Neal that season. He led the league in scoring with 29.7 points, win shares with 18.6, took home the league MVP award, led the Lakers to an NBA title in over a decade and wrapped up his year by winning Finals MVP.
Even with so many big nights in his career after this one, O’Neal was never quite as spectacular as he was on his 28th birthday. It didn’t matter if he was playing against the bottom-feeding Clippers or, at the time, the reigning NBA champs in the San Antonio Spurs, O’Neal was simply going to have his way with every and anyone that night.