Debates may rage about who the greatest player in NBA history is, but few disagree about the shortlist of names on the list of the most physically dominant individuals. Chief among them are three Los Angeles Lakers legends: Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, and Shaquille O'Neal.
A case could be made for any one of the three, but for fans of the post-90s era of the NBA, the conversation typically begins and ends with O'Neal.
O'Neal played 19 seasons in the NBA, including eight legendary campaigns with the Lakers. During his Hall of Fame career, he made a habit out of imposing his will upon full lineups, let alone individual defenders, with an unstoppable approach to scoring.
On a recent episode of The OGs podcast, former NBA Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year Mike Miller told a hilarious story that put O'Neal's dominance into perspective.
"‘Shaquille O’Neal, the most dominant big I’ve ever seen. We had a defense for him, like we had the defense for him, and there was still nothing you could do with it. There was nothing you could do with the Big Fella, that’s it. He didn’t even know he got fouled! Half the time he didn’t know! I hit him so hard one time my arm hurt and I was like, ’Damn, my bad Big Fella.' And he goes: ‘Did you hit me?’ And I’m like, ‘Come on man, get your a** out of here, you hurt my feelings.’"
That quote perfectly summarizes the experience of playing against O'Neal at the height of his powers—or, truthfully, any stage of his career.
Mike Miller recalls hacking Shaquille O'Neal—and O'Neal not feeling it
Describing O'Neal's physical dominance would be an inadequate endeavor in historical accuracy. The truth of his career is that there was no one who could stop him in a one-on-one situation, and there are too many photographs and videos of him dunking on multiple defenders to count.
Miller's story epitomizes the experience of having to defend him, as O'Neal was such a force of nature that players' best efforts to physically overwhelm him often hurt them more than it did him.
Standing at 7'1" and at least 325 pounds, O'Neal was the type of player that most wouldn't even think to create in NBA 2K. As a younger player, he complemented that absurd combination of size and strength with effortless leaping ability that allowed him to play above the rim and move in transition.
As he got older, O'Neal utilized his vastly underrated skill set to thrive as a post scorer and passer, and still deterred slashers from attacking the paint when he was on defense.
This dominance enabled O'Neal to win four championships, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, and an NBA MVP award. He was a 14-time All-NBA honoree, including eight First Team nods, and three All-Defense selections on his résumé.
O'Neal even has the unique distinction of being the franchise player for the only team that eliminated Michael Jordan from the playoffs between 1991 and 1998.
Specific to his Lakers career, O'Neal teamed with the iconic Kobe Bryant to help Los Angeles achieve the most recent three-peat in NBA history. Physical dominance was only a small part of that success, but when everything else was broken, it was the one strength that Los Angeles didn't need to fix.
There may never be another player like O'Neal. Defenders should be grateful for that.