Shaquille O'Neal - wikipedia Shaquille O'Neal `` Shaquille '' redirects here. For other people called Shaquille, see Shaquille ( given name ). `` Shaq '' redirects here. For other people called Shaq, see Shaq ( disambiguation ). Shaquille O'Neal O'Neal in 2011 ( 1972 - 03 - 06 ) March 6, 1972 ( age 46 ) Newark, New Jersey Nationality American Listed height 7 ft 1 in ( 2.16 m ) Listed weight 330 lb ( 150 kg ) Career information High school Robert G. Cole ( San Antonio, Texas ) College LSU ( 1989 -- 1992 ) NBA draft 1992 / Round : 1 / Pick : 1st overall Selected by the Orlando Magic Playing career 1992 -- 2011 Position Center Number 32, 34, 33, 36 Career history 1992 -- 1996 Orlando Magic 1996 -- 2004 Los Angeles Lakers 2004 -- 2008 Miami Heat 2008 -- 2009 Phoenix Suns 2009 -- 2010 Cleveland Cavaliers 2010 -- 2011 Boston Celtics Career highlights and awards 4 × NBA champion ( 2000 -- 2002, 2006 ) 3 × NBA Finals MVP ( 2000 -- 2002 ) NBA Most Valuable Player ( 2000 ) 15 × NBA All - Star ( 1993 -- 1998, 2000 -- 2007, 2009 ) 3 × NBA All - Star Game MVP ( 2000, 2004, 2009 ) 8 × All - NBA First Team ( 1998, 2000 -- 2006 ) 2 × All - NBA Second Team ( 1995, 1999 ) 4 × All - NBA Third Team ( 1994, 1996, 1997, 2009 ) 3 × NBA All - Defensive Second Team ( 2000, 2001, 2003 ) NBA Rookie of the Year ( 1993 ) 2 × NBA scoring champion ( 1995, 2000 ) NBA 50th Anniversary Team No. 34 retired by Los Angeles Lakers No. 32 retired by Miami Heat College national player of the year ( 1991 ) 2 × Consensus first - team All - American ( 1991, 1992 ) 2 × SEC Player of the Year ( 1991, 1992 ) No. 33 retired by LSU FIBA World Championship MVP ( 1994 ) USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year ( 1994 ) McDonald 's All - American MVP ( 1989 ) Career statistics Points 28,596 ( 23.7 ppg ) Rebounds 13,099 ( 10.9 rpg ) Blocks 2,732 ( 2.3 bpg ) Stats at Basketball-Reference.com Basketball Hall of Fame as player FIBA Hall of Fame as player College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2014 Medals Men 's basketball Representing United States Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Team competition World Championship 1994 Canada Team competition Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( / ʃəˈkiːl / shə - KEEL ; born March 6, 1972 ), nicknamed `` Shaq '' ( / ʃæk / SHAK ), is an American retired professional basketball player currently serving as a sports analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. He is widely considered one of the greatest players in NBA history. At 7 ft 1 in ( 2.16 m ) tall and 330 pounds ( 150 kg ), he was one of the tallest and heaviest men ever to play in the NBA, where he played for six teams throughout his 19 - year career. Following his time at Louisiana State University, O'Neal was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. He quickly became one of the best centers in the league, winning Rookie of the Year in 1992 -- 93 and leading his team to the 1995 NBA Finals. After four years with the Magic, O'Neal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. They won three consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Amid tension between O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004, and his fourth NBA championship followed in 2006. Midway through the 2007 -- 2008 season he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. After a season - and - a-half with the Suns, O'Neal was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009 -- 10 season. O'Neal played for the Boston Celtics in the 2010 -- 11 season before retiring. O'Neal's individual accolades include the 1999 -- 2000 MVP award, the 1992 -- 93 NBA Rookie of the Year award, 15 All - Star game selections, three All - Star Game MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, 14 All - NBA team selections, and three NBA All - Defensive Team selections. He is one of only three players to win NBA MVP, All - Star game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year ( 2000 ) ; the other players are Willis Reed in 1970 and Michael Jordan in 1996 and 1998. He ranks 8th all - time in points scored, 6th in field goals, 15th in rebounds, and 8th in blocks. Largely due to his ability to dunk the basketball, O'Neal also ranks third all - time in field goal percentage ( 58.2 % ). O'Neal was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. He was elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2017. In addition to his basketball career, O'Neal has released four rap albums, with his first, Shaq Diesel, going platinum. He has appeared in numerous films and has starred in his own reality shows, Shaq 's Big Challenge and Shaq Vs... He hosts The Big Podcast with Shaq. He is also the general manager of Kings Guard Gaming of the NBA 2K League. Contents 1 Early life 2 College career 3 NBA career 3.1 Orlando Magic ( 1992 -- 1996 ) 3.2 Los Angeles Lakers ( 1996 -- 2004 ) 3.2. 1 Championship seasons 3.2. 2 Toe surgery to departure 3.3 Miami Heat ( 2004 -- 2008 ) 3.3. 1 Fourth championship 3.3. 2 Surgery and Wade 's injury 3.3. 3 2007 -- 2008 season 3.4 Phoenix Suns ( 2008 -- 2009 ) 3.5 Cleveland Cavaliers ( 2009 -- 2010 ) 3.6 Boston Celtics ( 2010 -- 2011 ) 4 National team career 5 Player profile 6 Media personality 7 Off the court 7.1 Education 7.2 Law enforcement 7.3 Music career 7.4 Acting 7.5 Video games 7.6 Television 7.7 Advertising 7.8 Mixed martial arts 7.9 Professional wrestling 7.10 Business ventures 8 Personal life 8.1 Marriage to Shaunie 8.2 Girlfriends 8.3 Outside of Basketball 9 NBA career statistics 9.1 Regular season 9.2 Playoffs 10 Discography 11 Filmography 11.1 Films 11.2 Television 11.3 Awards and nominations 12 Bibliography 13 See also 14 References 15 External links Early life O'Neal playing for the Cole High School varsity basketball team in 1988 -- 89. O'Neal was born on March 6, 1972, in Newark, New Jersey, to Lucille O'Neal and Joe Toney, who played high school basketball ( he was an All - State guard ) and was offered a basketball scholarship to play at Seton Hall. Toney struggled with drug addiction and was imprisoned for drug possession when O'Neal was an infant. Upon his release, he did not resume a place in O'Neal's life and instead agreed to relinquish his parental rights to O'Neal's stepfather, Phillip A. Harrison, a career Army sergeant. O'Neal remained estranged from his biological father for decades ; O'Neal had not spoken with Toney or expressed an interest in establishing a relationship. On his 1994 rap album, Shaq Fu : The Return, O'Neal voiced his feelings of disdain for Toney in the song `` Biological Did n't Bother '', dismissing him with the line `` Phil is my father. '' However, O'Neal's feelings toward Toney mellowed in the years following Harrison 's death in 2013, and the two met for the first time in March 2016, with O'Neal telling him, `` I do n't hate you. I had a good life. I had Phil. '' O'Neal credits the Boys and Girls Club of America in Newark with giving him a safe place to play and keeping him off the streets. `` It gave me something to do, '' he said. `` I 'd just go there to shoot. I did n't even play on a team. '' Because of his stepfather 's career in the military, the family left Newark, moving to military bases in Germany and Texas. At Robert G. Cole High School in San Antonio, Texas, O'Neal led his team to a 68 -- 1 record over two years and helped the team win the state championship during his senior year. His 791 rebounds during the 1989 season remains a state record for a player in any classification. O'Neal's tendency to make hook shots earned comparisons to Kareem Abdul - Jabbar, inspiring him to wear the same jersey number as Abdul - Jabbar, 33. However, his high school team did not have a 33 jersey, so O'Neal chose to wear 32 before college. College career After graduating from high school, O'Neal studied business at Louisiana State University. He had first met Dale Brown, LSU 's men 's basketball coach, years earlier in Europe. O'Neal's stepfather was stationed on a U.S. Army base at Wildflecken, West Germany. While playing for Brown at LSU, O'Neal was a two - time All - American, two - time SEC Player of the Year, and received the Adolph Rupp Trophy as NCAA men 's basketball player of the year in 1991 ; he was also named college player of the year by AP and UPI. O'Neal left LSU early to pursue his NBA career, but continued his education even after becoming a professional player. He was later inducted into the LSU Hall of Fame. A 900 - pound bronze statue of O'Neal is located in front of the LSU Tigers Basketball Practice Facility. NBA career Orlando Magic ( 1992 -- 1996 ) The Orlando Magic drafted O'Neal with the 1st overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. During that summer, prior to moving to Orlando, he spent a significant amount of time in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. Given Terry Catledge eventually refused to give O'Neal the 33 jersey, he relented by going back to the 32 from his high school days. O'Neal was named the Player of the Week in his first week in the NBA, becoming the first player to do so. During his rookie season, O'Neal averaged 23.4 points on 56.2 % shooting, 13.9 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game for the season. He was named the 1993 NBA Rookie of the Year and became the first rookie to be voted an All - Star starter since Michael Jordan in 1985. The Magic finished 41 -- 41, winning 20 more games than the previous season ; however, the team ultimately missed the playoffs by virtue of a tie - breaker with the Indiana Pacers. On more than one occasion during the year, Sports Illustrated writer Jack McCallum overheard O'Neal saying, `` We 've got to get ( head coach ) Matty ( Guokas ) out of here and bring in ( assistant ) Brian ( Hill ). '' In 1993 -- 1994, O'Neal's second season, Hill was the coach and Guokas was reassigned to the front office. O'Neal improved his scoring average to 29.4 points ( second in the league to David Robinson ) while leading the NBA in field goal percentage at 60 %. On November 20, 1993, against the New Jersey Nets, O'Neal registered the first triple - double of his career, recording 24 points to go along with career highs of 28 rebounds and 15 blocks. He was voted into the All - Star game and also made the All - NBA 3rd Team. Teamed with newly drafted Anfernee `` Penny '' Hardaway, the Magic finished with a record of 50 -- 32 and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In his first playoff series, O'Neal averaged 20.7 points and 13.3 rebounds in a losing effort as the Magic lost every game to the Indiana Pacers. O'Neal's third season in 1994 -- 95 had him leading the NBA in scoring with a 29.3 point average, while finishing second in MVP voting to David Robinson and entering his third straight All - Star Game along with Hardaway. They formed one of the league 's top duos and helped Orlando to a 57 -- 25 record and the Atlantic Division crown. The Magic won their first ever playoff series against the Boston Celtics in the 1995 NBA Playoffs. They then defeated the Chicago Bulls in the conference semifinals. After beating Reggie Miller 's Indiana Pacers, the Magic reached the NBA Finals, facing the defending NBA champion Houston Rockets. O'Neal played well in his first Finals appearance, averaging 28 points on 59.5 % shooting, 12.5 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. Despite this, the Rockets, led by future Hall - of - Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, swept the series in four games. O'Neal was injured for a great deal of the 1995 -- 96 season, missing 28 games. He averaged 26.6 points and 11 rebounds per game, made the All - NBA 3rd Team, and played in his 4th All - Star Game. Despite O'Neal's injuries, the Magic finished with a regular season record of 60 -- 22, second in the Eastern conference to the Chicago Bulls, who finished with an NBA record 72 wins. Orlando easily defeated the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds of the 1996 NBA Playoffs ; however, they were no match for Jordan 's Bulls, who swept them in the Eastern Conference Finals. Los Angeles Lakers ( 1996 -- 2004 ) In 8 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers ( 1996 -- 2004 ), O'Neal won three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002 and appeared in the 2004 NBA Finals. O'Neal became a free agent after the 1995 -- 96 NBA season. In the summer of 1996, O'Neal was named to the United States Olympic basketball team, and was later part of the gold medal - winning team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. While the Olympic basketball team was training in Orlando, the Orlando Sentinel published a poll that asked whether the Magic should fire Hill if that were one of O'Neal's conditions for returning. 82 % answered `` no ''. O'Neal had a power struggle while playing under Hill. He said the team `` just did n't respect ( Hill ). '' Another question in the poll asked, `` Is Shaq worth $115 million ? '' in reference to the amount of the Magic 's offer. 91.3 % of the response was `` no ''. O'Neal's Olympic teammates rode him hard over the poll. He was also upset that the Orlando media implied O'Neal was not a good role model for having a child with his longtime girlfriend with no immediate plans to marry. O'Neal compared his lack of privacy in Orlando to `` feeling like a big fish in a dried - up pond. '' O'Neal also learned that Hardaway considered himself the leader of the Magic and did not want O'Neal making more money than him. On the team 's first full day at the Olympics in Atlanta, the media announced that O'Neal would join the Los Angeles Lakers on a seven - year, $121 million contract. He insisted he did not choose Los Angeles for the money. `` I 'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money '', O'Neal said after the signing. `` I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok, '' he added, referring to a couple of his product endorsements. The Lakers won 56 games during the 1996 -- 97 season. O'Neal averaged 26.2 points and 12.5 rebounds in his first season with Los Angeles ; however, he again missed over 30 games due to injury. The Lakers made the playoffs, but were eliminated in the second round by the Utah Jazz in five games. In his first playoff game for the Lakers, O'Neal scored 46 points against the Portland Trail Blazers, the most for the Lakers in a playoff game since Jerry West had 53 in 1969. On December 17, 1996, O'Neal shoved Dennis Rodman of the Chicago Bulls ; Rodman 's teammates Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan restrained Rodman and prevented further conflict. The Los Angeles Daily News reported that O'Neal was willing to be suspended for fighting Rodman, and O'Neal said : `` It 's one thing to talk tough and one thing to be tough. '' The following season, O'Neal averaged 28.3 points and 11.4 rebounds. He led the league with a 58.4 field goal percentage, the first of five consecutive seasons in which he did so. The Lakers finished the season 61 -- 21, first in the Pacific Division, and were the second seed in the western conference during the 1998 NBA Playoffs. After defeating the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle SuperSonics in the first two rounds, the Lakers again fell to the Jazz, this time in a 4 -- 0 sweep. With the tandem of O'Neal and teenage superstar Kobe Bryant, expectations for the Lakers increased. However, personnel changes were a source of instability during the 1998 -- 99 season. Long - time Laker point guard Nick Van Exel was traded to the Denver Nuggets ; his former backcourt partner Eddie Jones was packaged with back - up center Elden Campbell for Glen Rice to satisfy a demand by O'Neal for a shooter. Coach Del Harris was fired, and former Lakers forward Kurt Rambis finished the season as head coach. The Lakers finished with a 31 -- 19 record during the lockout - shortened season. Although they made the playoffs, they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs, led by Tim Duncan and David Robinson in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. The Spurs would go on to win their first NBA title in 1999. Championship seasons In 1999, prior to the 1999 -- 2000 season, the Lakers hired Phil Jackson as head coach, and the team 's fortunes soon changed. Jackson immediately challenged O'Neal, telling him `` the ( NBA 's ) MVP trophy should be named after him when he retired. '' Using Jackson 's triangle offense, O'Neal and Bryant enjoyed tremendous success, leading the Lakers to three consecutive titles ( 2000, 2001, and 2002 ). O'Neal was named MVP of the NBA Finals all three times and had the highest scoring average for a center in NBA Finals history. In the November 10, 1999, game against the Houston Rockets, O'Neal and Charles Barkley were ejected. After O'Neal blocked a layup by Barkley, O'Neal shoved Barkley, who then threw the ball at O'Neal. O'Neal was also voted the 1999 -- 2000 regular season Most Valuable Player, one vote short of becoming the first unanimous MVP in NBA history. Fred Hickman, then of CNN, instead chose Allen Iverson, then of the Philadelphia 76ers who would go on to win MVP the next season. O'Neal also won the scoring title while finishing second in rebounds and third in blocked shots. Jackson 's influence resulted in a newfound commitment by O'Neal to defense, resulting in his first All - Defensive Team selection ( second - team ) in 2000. In the 2001 NBA Finals against the 76ers, O'Neal fouled out in Game 3 backing over Dikembe Mutombo, the 2000 -- 2001 Defensive Player of the Year. `` I did n't think the best defensive player in the game would be flopping like that. It 's a shame that the referees buy into that '', O'Neal said. `` I wish he 'd stand up and play me like a man instead of flopping and crying every time I back him down. A month before the 2001 -- 02 season 's training camp, O'Neal had corrective surgery for a claw toe deformity in the smallest toe of his left foot. He opted against a more involved surgery to return quicker. He was ready for the start of the 2001 -- 02 regular season, but the toe frequently bothered him. In January 2002, he was involved in a spectacular on - court brawl in a game against the Chicago Bulls. He punched center Brad Miller after an intentional foul to prevent a basket, resulting in a melee with Miller, forward Charles Oakley, and several other players. O'Neal was suspended for three games without pay and fined $15,000. For the season, O'Neal averaged 27.2 points and 10.7 rebounds, excellent statistics but below his career average ; he was less of a defensive force during the season. O'Neal at the White House greeting President George W. Bush with his fellow Lakers Matched up against the Sacramento Kings in the 2002 Western Conference finals, O'Neal said, `` There is only one way to beat us. It starts with c and ends with t. '' O'Neal meant `` cheat '' in reference to the alleged flopping of Kings ' center Vlade Divac. O'Neal referred to Divac as `` she '', and said he would never exaggerate contact to draw a foul. `` I 'm a guy with no talent who has gotten this way with hard work. '' After the 2001 -- 2002 season, O'Neal told friends that he did not want another season of limping and being in virtually constant pain from his big right toe. His trademark mobility and explosion had been often absent. The corrective options ranged from reconstructive surgery on the toe to rehabilitation exercises with more shoe inserts and anti-inflammation medication. O'Neal was already wary of the long - term damage his frequent consumption of these medications might have. He did not want to rush a decision with his career potentially at risk. Toe surgery to departure O'Neal missed the first 12 games of the 2002 -- 03 season recovering from toe surgery. He was sidelined with hallux rigidus, a degenerative arthritis in his toe. He waited the whole summer until just before training camp for the surgery and explained, `` I got hurt on company time, so I 'll heal on company time. '' O'Neal debated whether to have a more invasive surgery that would have kept him out an additional three months, but he opted against the more involved procedure. The Lakers started the season with a record of 11 -- 19. At the end of the season, the Lakers had fallen to the fifth seed and failed to reach the Finals in 2003. For the 2003 - 04 season, the team made a concerted off - season effort to improve its roster. They sought the free - agent services of forward Karl Malone and aging guard Gary Payton, but due to salary cap restrictions, could not offer either one nearly as much money as they could have made with some other teams. O'Neal assisted in the recruitment efforts and personally persuaded both men to join the squad. Ultimately, both signed, each forgoing larger salaries in favor of a chance to win an NBA championship, which neither had accomplished in his career ( and which neither would achieve with the Lakers ). At the beginning of the 2003 -- 04 season, O'Neal wanted a contract extension with a pay raise on his remaining three years for $30 million. The Lakers had hoped O'Neal would take less money due to his age, physical conditioning, and games missed due to injuries. During a preseason game, O'Neal had yelled at Lakers owner Jerry Buss, `` Pay me. '' There had been increasing tension between O'Neal and Bryant. The feud climaxed during training camp prior to the 2003 -- 2004 season when Bryant, in an interview with ESPN journalist Jim Gray, criticized O'Neal for being out of shape, a poor leader, and putting his salary demands over the best interest of the Lakers. The Lakers made the playoffs in 2004 and lost to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals. Lakers assistant coach Tex Winter said, `` Shaq defeated himself against Detroit. He played way too passively. He had one big game... He 's always interested in being a scorer, but he has n't had nearly enough concentration on defense and rebounding. '' After the series, O'Neal was angered by comments made by Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak regarding O'Neal's future with the club, as well as by the departure of Lakers coach Phil Jackson at the request of Buss. O'Neal made comments indicating that he felt the team 's decisions were centered on a desire to appease Bryant to the exclusion of all other concerns, and O'Neal promptly demanded a trade. Kupchak wanted the Dallas Mavericks ' Dirk Nowitzki in return but Mavericks owner Mark Cuban refused to let his 7 - footer go. However, Miami showed interest, and eventually the two clubs agreed. Winter said, `` ( O'Neal ) left because he could n't get what he wanted -- a huge pay raise. There was no way ownership could give him what he wanted. Shaq 's demands held the franchise hostage, and the way he went about it did n't please the owner too much. '' Miami Heat ( 2004 -- 2008 ) O'Neal with Miami in 2007 On July 14, 2004, O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and a future first - round draft choice ( who would turn into Jordan Farmar in the 2006 draft ). O'Neal reverted from ( his Lakers jersey ) number 34 to number 32, which he had worn while playing for the Magic. Upon signing with the Heat, O'Neal promised the fans that he would bring a championship to Miami. He claimed one of the main reasons for wanting to be traded to Miami was because of their up - and - coming star Dwyane Wade, to whom he gave the nickname `` Flash ''. With O'Neal on board, the new - look Heat surpassed expectations, claiming the best record in the Eastern Conference in 2004 -- 05 with 59 wins. He played in 73 games, his most since 2001 season, averaged 22.9 points a game along with 10.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. Shaq also made his 12th consecutive All - Star Team, made the All - NBA 1st Team, and won the Eastern Conference player of the Month award for his performance in March. O'Neal also narrowly lost the 2004 -- 05 MVP Award to Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash in one of the closest votes in NBA history. Despite being hobbled by a deep thigh bruise, O'Neal led the Heat to the Eastern Conference Finals and a Game 7 against the defending champion Detroit Pistons, losing by a narrow margin. Afterwards, O'Neal and others criticized Heat head coach Stan Van Gundy for not calling enough plays for O'Neal. In August 2005, O'Neal signed a 5 - year - extension with the Heat for $100 million. Supporters applauded O'Neal's willingness to take what amounted to a pay cut and the Heat 's decision to secure O'Neal's services for the long term. They contended that O'Neal was worth more than $20 million per year, particularly given that lesser players earned almost the same amount. In the second game of the 2005 -- 06 season, O'Neal injured his right ankle and subsequently missed the following 18 games. Upon O'Neal's return, Van Gundy resigned, citing family reasons, and Pat Riley assumed head coach responsibilities. O'Neal later referred to Van Gundy as a `` frontrunner '' and a `` master of panic. '' Many critics stated that Heat coach Riley correctly managed O'Neal during the rest of the season, limiting his minutes to a career low. Riley felt doing so would allow O'Neal to be healthier and fresher come playoff time. Although O'Neal averaged career lows ( or near - lows ) in points, rebounds, and blocks, he said in an interview `` Stats do n't matter. I care about winning, not stats. If I score 0 points and we win I 'm happy. If I score 50, 60 points, break the records, and we lose, I 'm pissed off. ' Cause I knew I did something wrong. I 'll have a hell of a season if I win the championship and average 20 points a game. '' During the 2005 -- 06 season, the Heat recorded only a. 500 record without O'Neal in the line - up. On April 11, 2006, O'Neal recorded his second career triple - double against the Toronto Raptors with 15 points, 11 rebounds and a career high 10 assists. O'Neal finished the 2005 -- 06 season as the league leader in field goal percentage. Fourth championship O'Neal holding the championship ball when the NBA Champion Heat visited the White House In the 2006 NBA Playoffs, the Heat first faced the younger Chicago Bulls, and O'Neal delivered a dominating 27 point, 16 rebound and 5 blocks performance in game 1 followed by a 22 - point effort in game 2 to help Miami take a 2 - 0 lead in the series. Chicago would respond with two dominating performances at home to tie the series, but Miami would respond right back with a victory at home in game 5. Miami returned to Chicago and closed out the series in the 6th game, highlighted by another dominating performance by O'Neal who finished with 30 points and 20 rebounds. Miami advanced to face New Jersey, who won a surprising game 1 victory before the Heat won four straight to assure a rematch with Detroit. The Pistons had no answer for Wade throughout the series, while O'Neal delivered 21 points and 12 rebounds in game 3 followed by 27 points and 12 boards in game 4 to help Miami take a 3 - 2 series lead. The Pistons would win game 5 in Detroit, and Wade would once again get injured, but the Heat held on to win game 6 with O'Neal scoring 28 points with 16 rebounds and 5 blocks to help Miami reach their first ever NBA Finals. In the Finals, the Heat were underdogs against the Dallas Mavericks led by Dirk Nowitzki, and the Mavericks won the first two games at home in dominating fashion. The Heat led by Wade and a balanced effort by O'Neal, Antoine Walker and Jason Williams would go on to win all three of the next games at home, before closing out the series in Dallas to deliver the first NBA title for the franchise and O'Neal's fourth title. With Wade carrying the offensive load, O'Neal did not need to have a dominating series, and finished with an average of 13.7 points and 10.2 rebounds for the series. Surgery and Wade 's injury In the 2006 -- 07 season, O'Neal missed 35 games after an injury to his left knee in November required surgery. After one of those missed games, a Christmas Day match - up against the Lakers, he ripped Jackson, who O'Neal had once called a second father, referring to his former coach as `` Benedict Arnold ''. Jackson had previously said, `` The only person I 've ever ( coached ) that has n't been a worker... is probably Shaq. '' The Heat struggled during O'Neal's absence, but with his return won seven of their next eight games. Bad luck still haunted the squad, however, as Wade dislocated his left shoulder, leaving O'Neal as the focus of the team. Critics doubted that O'Neal, now in his mid-thirties, could carry the team into the playoffs. The Heat went on a winning streak that kept them in the race for a playoff spot, which they finally secured against the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 5. In a rematch of the year before, the Heat faced the Bulls in the first round of the 2006 -- 07 NBA playoffs. The Heat struggled against the Bulls and although O'Neal put up reasonable numbers, he was not able to dominate the series. The Bulls swept the Heat, the first time in 50 years a defending NBA champion was swept in the opening round. It was the first time in 13 years that O'Neal did not advance into the second round. In the 2006 -- 07 season O'Neal reached 25,000 career points, becoming the 14th player in NBA history to accomplish that milestone. However, it was the first season in O'Neal's career that his scoring average dropped below 20 points per game. 2007 -- 2008 season O'Neal experienced a rough start for the 2007 -- 08 season, averaging career lows in points, rebounds, and blocks. His role in the offense diminished, as he attempted only 10 field goals per game, versus his career average of 17. In addition, O'Neal was plagued by fouls, and during one stretch fouled out of five consecutive games. O'Neal's streak of 14 straight All - Star appearances ended that season. O'Neal again missed games due to injuries, and the Heat had a 15 -- game losing streak. According to O'Neal, Riley thought he was faking the injury. During a practice in February 2008, O'Neal got into an altercation with Riley over the coach ordering a tardy Jason Williams to leave practice. The two argued face - to - face, with O'Neal poking Riley in the chest and Riley slapping his finger away. Riley soon after decided to trade O'Neal. O'Neal said his relationship with Wade was not `` all that good '' by the time he left Miami, but he did not express disappointment at Wade for failing to stand up for him. O'Neal played 33 games for the Miami Heat in the 2007 -- 08 season prior to being traded to the Phoenix Suns. O'Neal started all 33 games and averaged 14.2 points per game. Following the trade to Phoenix, O'Neal averaged 12.9 ppg while starting all 28 games with the Suns. Phoenix Suns ( 2008 -- 2009 ) The Phoenix Suns acquired O'Neal in February 2008 from the league - worst Miami Heat, who had a record at the time of the trade of 9 - 37, in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. O'Neal made his Suns debut on February 20, 2008, against his former Lakers team, scoring 15 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in the process. The Lakers won, 130 -- 124. O'Neal was upbeat in a post-game press conference, stating : `` I will take the blame for this loss because I was n't in tune with the guys (... ) But give me four or five days to really get in tune and I 'll get it. '' In 28 regular - season games, O'Neal averaged 12.9 points and 10.6 rebounds, good enough to make the playoffs. One of the reasons for the trade was to limit Tim Duncan in the event of a postseason matchup between the Suns and the San Antonio Spurs, especially after the Suns ' six - game elimination by the Spurs in the 2007 NBA Playoffs. O'Neal and the Phoenix Suns did face the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs, but they were once again eliminated, in five games. O'Neal averaged 15.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. O'Neal preferred his new situation with the Suns over the Heat. `` I love playing for this coach and I love playing with these guys '', O'Neal said. `` We have professionals who know what to do. No one is asking me to play with ( his former Heat teammates ) Chris Quinn or Ricky Davis. I 'm actually on a team again. '' Riley felt O'Neal was wrong for maligning his former teammates. O'Neal responded with an expletive toward Riley, whom he often referred to as the `` great Pat Riley '' while playing for the Heat. O'Neal credited the Suns training staff with prolonging his career. They connected his arthritic toe, which would not bend, to the alteration of his jump that consequently was straining his leg. The trainers had him concentrate on building his core strength, flexibility, and balance. The 2008 -- 09 season improved for O'Neal, who averaged 18 pts, 9 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks through the first half ( 41 games ) of the season, leading the Suns to a 23 -- 18 record and 2nd place in their division. He returned to the All - Star Game in 2009 and emerged as co-MVP along with ex-teammate Kobe Bryant. O'Neal with Phoenix teammate Steve Nash. On February 27, 2009, O'Neal scored 45 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, his 49th career 40 - point game, beating the Toronto Raptors 133 -- 113. In a matchup against Orlando on March 3, 2009, O'Neal was outscored by Magic center Dwight Howard, 21 -- 19. `` I 'm really too old to be trying to outscore 18 - year - olds '', O'Neal said, referring to the then 23 - year - old Howard. `` It 's not really my role anymore. '' O'Neal was double - teamed most of the night. `` I like to play people one - on - one. My whole career I had to play people one - on - one. Never once had to double or ask for a double. But it 's cool '', said O'Neal. During the game, O'Neal flopped against Howard. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who had coached O'Neal with the Heat, was `` very disappointed cause ( O'Neal ) knows what it 's like. Let 's stand up and play like men, and I think our guy did that tonight. '' O'Neal responded, `` Flopping is playing like that your whole career. I was trying to take the charge, trying to get a call. It probably was a flop, but flopping is the wrong use of words. Flopping would describe his coaching. '' Mark Madsen, a Lakers teammate of O'Neal's for three years, found it amusing since `` everyone in the league tries to flop on Shaq and Shaq never flops back. '' In a 2006 interview in TIME, O'Neal said if he were NBA commissioner, he would `` Make a guy have to beat a guy -- not flop and get calls and be nice to the referees and kiss ass. '' On March 6, O'Neal talked about the upcoming game against the Rockets and Yao Ming. `` It 's not going to be man - on - man, so do n't even try that, '' says O'Neal with an incredulous laugh. `` They 're going to double and triple me like everybody else... I rarely get to play ( Yao ) one - on - one... But when I play him ( on defense ), it 's just going to be me down there. So do n't try to make it a Yao versus Shaq thing, when it 's Shaq versus four other guys. '' The 2009 NBA Playoffs was also the first time since O'Neal's rookie season in 1992 -- 93 that he did not participate in the playoffs. He was named as a member of the All - NBA Third Team. The Suns notified O'Neal he might be traded to cut costs. Cleveland Cavaliers ( 2009 -- 2010 ) On June 25, 2009, O'Neal was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Sasha Pavlovic, Ben Wallace, $500,000, and a 2010 - second round draft pick. Upon arriving in Cleveland, O'Neal said, `` My motto is very simple : Win a Ring for the King '', referring to LeBron James. James was the leader of the team, and O'Neal deferred to him. On February 25, 2010, O'Neal suffered a severe right thumb injury while attempting to go up for a shot against Glen Davis of the Boston Celtics. He had surgery on the thumb on March 1 and returned to play in time for the first round of the playoffs. After defeating the Chicago Bulls in the first round, the Cavaliers went on to lose to the Boston Celtics in the second round. In September 2016, O'Neal said : `` When I was in Cleveland, we were in first place. Big Baby ( Glen Davis ) breaks my hand and I had to sit out five weeks late in the year. I come back finally in the first round of the playoffs, and we lost to Boston in the second round. I was upset. I know for a fact if I was healthy, we would have gotten it done that year and won a ring. '' O'Neal averaged career lows in almost every major statistical category during the 2009 -- 10 season, taking on a much less significant role than in previous years. Boston Celtics ( 2010 -- 2011 ) O'Neal finished his career with the Boston Celtics Upon hearing Bryant comment that he had more rings than O'Neal, Wyc Grousbeck, principal owner of the Celtics, saw an opportunity to acquire O'Neal. Celtics coach Doc Rivers agreed to the signing on the condition that O'Neal would not receive preferential treatment nor could he cause any locker room problems like in Los Angeles or Miami. On August 4, 2010, the Celtics announced that they had signed O'Neal. The contract was for two years at the veteran minimum salary for a total contract value of $2.8 million. O'Neal wanted the larger mid-level exception contract, but the Celtics chose instead to give it to Jermaine O'Neal. The Atlanta Hawks and the Dallas Mavericks also expressed interest but had stalled on O'Neal's salary demands. He was introduced by the Celtics on August 10, 2010, and chose the number 36. O'Neal said he did n't `` compete with little guys who run around dominating the ball, throwing up 30 shots a night -- like D -- Wade, Kobe. '' O'Neal added that he was only competing against Duncan : `` If Tim Duncan gets five rings, then that gives some writer the chance to say ' Duncan is the best, ' and I ca n't have that. '' Publicly, he insisted he did not care whether he started or substituted for the Celtics, but expected to be part of the second unit. Privately, he wanted to start, but kept it to himself. O'Neal missed games throughout the season due to an assortment of ailments to his right leg including knee, calf, hip, and Achilles injuries. The Celtics traded away center Kendrick Perkins in February partially due to the expectation that O'Neal would return to fill Perkins ' role. The Celtics were 33 -- 10 in games Perkins had missed during the year due to injury, and they were 19 -- 3 in games that O'Neal played over 20 minutes. After requesting a cortisone shot, O'Neal returned April 3 after missing 27 games due to his Achilles ; he played only five minutes due to a strained right calf. It was the last regular season game he would play that year. O'Neal missed the first round of the 2011 playoffs. He insisted on more cortisone shots and returned in the second round, but he was limited to 12 minutes in two games as the Heat eliminated the Celtics from the playoffs. On June 1, 2011, O'Neal announced his retirement via social media. On a short tape on Twitter, O'Neal tweeted, `` We did it. Nineteen years, baby. I want to thank you very much. That 's why I 'm telling you first. I 'm about to retire. Love you. Talk to you soon. '' On June 3, 2011, O'Neal held a press conference at his home in Orlando to officially announce his retirement. National team career While in college, O'Neal was considered for the Dream Team to fill the college spot, but it eventually went to future teammate Christian Laettner. His national team career began in the 1994 FIBA World Championship in which he was named MVP of the Tournament. While he led the Dream Team II to the gold medal with an 8 -- 0 record, O'Neal averaged 18 points and 8.5 rebounds and recorded two double - doubles. In four games, he scored more than 20 points. Before 2010, he was the last active American player to have a gold from the FIBA World Cup. He was one of two players ( the other being Reggie Miller ) from the 1994 roster to be also named to the Dream Team III. Due to more star - power, he rotated with Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson and started 3 games. He averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds with 8 total blocks. Again, a perfect 8 -- 0 record landed him another gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. O'Neal was upset that coach Lenny Wilkens played Robinson more minutes in the final game ; Wilkens previously explained to O'Neal that it would probably be Robinson 's last Olympics. After his 1996 experience, he declined to play in international competition. He was angered by being overlooked for the 1999 FIBA AmeriCup squad, saying it was a `` lack of respect ''. He forwent an opportunity to participate in the 2000 Olympics, explaining that two gold medals were enough. Shaq also chose not to play in the 2002 FIBA World Championship. He rejected an offer to play in the 2004 Olympics, and although he was initially interested in being named for 2006 -- 2008 US preliminary roster, he eventually declined the invitation. Player profile O'Neal's free throw shooting was regarded as one of his major weaknesses. O'Neal established himself as an overpowering low post presence, putting up career averages of 23.7 points on. 582 field goal accuracy, 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. At 7 ft 1 in ( 2.16 m ), 330 lb ( 150 kg ; 24 st ) and U.S. shoe size 23, he became famous for his physical stature. His physical frame gave him a power advantage over most opponents. On two occasions during his first season in the NBA his powerful dunks broke the steel backboard supports, prompting the league to increase the brace strength and stability of the backboards for the following 1993 -- 94 season. O'Neal's `` drop step '', ( called the `` Black Tornado '' by O'Neal ) in which he posted up a defender, turned around and, using his elbows for leverage, powered past him for a very high - percentage slam dunk, proved an effective offensive weapon. In addition, O'Neal frequently used a right - handed jump hook shot to score near the basket. The ability to dunk contributed to his career field goal accuracy of. 582, second only to Artis Gilmore as the highest field goal percentage of all time. He led the NBA in field goal percentage 10 times, breaking Wilt Chamberlain 's record of nine. Opposing teams often used up many fouls on O'Neal, reducing the playing time of their own big men. O'Neal's imposing physical presence inside the paint caused dramatic changes in many teams ' offensive and defensive strategies. O'Neal's primary weakness was his free throw shooting, with a career average of 52.7 %. He once missed all 11 of his free throw attempts in a game against the Seattle SuperSonics on December 8, 2000, a record. O'Neal believes his free throw woes were a mental issue, as he often shot 80 percent in practice. In hope of exploiting O'Neal's poor foul shooting, opponents often committed intentional fouls against him, a tactic known as `` Hack - a-Shaq ''. O'Neal was the third - ranked player all - time in free throws taken, having attempted 11,252 free - throws in 1,207 games up to and including the 2010 -- 11 season. On December 25, 2008, O'Neal missed his 5,000 th free throw, becoming the second player in NBA history to do so, along with Chamberlain. O'Neal only made one three point shot during his entire career. He made the shot during the 1995 -- 96 NBA season with the Orlando Magic. His career three point shot record is 1 for 22 ( a 4.5 % career percentage ). O'Neal was a capable defender, named three times to the All - NBA Second Defensive Team. His presence intimidated opposing players shooting near the basket, and he averaged 2.3 blocked shots per game over the course of his career. Phil Jackson believed O'Neal underachieved in his career, saying he `` could and should have been the MVP player for 10 consecutive seasons. '' The Lakers retired his No. 34 jersey on April 2, 2013. On February 26, 2016, the Miami Heat announced that it would retire O'Neal's No. 32 jersey during the 2016 -- 17 season, making O'Neal one of just 32 athletes in American professional sports history to have their jersey retired by multiple teams. The Heat eventually retired his jersey on December 22, 2016, during halftime of a game against his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Media personality O'Neal called himself `` The Big Aristotle '' and `` Hobo Master '' for his composure and insights during interviews. Journalists and others gave O'Neal several nicknames including `` ' Shaq ' '', `` The Diesel '', `` Shaq Fu '', `` The Big Daddy '', `` Superman '', `` The Big Agave '', `` The Big Cactus '', `` The Big Shaqtus '', `` The Big Galactus '', `` Wilt Chamberneezy '', `` The Big Baryshnikov '', `` The Real Deal '', `` The Big Shamrock '', `` The Big Leprechaun '', `` Shaqovic '', and `` The Big Conductor ''. Although he was a favorite interviewee of the press, O'Neal was sensitive and often went weeks without speaking. When he did not want to speak with the press, he employed an interview technique whereby, sitting in front of his cubicle, he would murmur in his low - pitched voice. During the 2000 Screen Actors Guild strike, O'Neal performed in a commercial for Disney. O'Neal was fined by the union for crossing the picket line. O'Neal's humorous and sometimes incendiary comments fueled the Los Angeles Lakers ' long - standing rivalry with the Sacramento Kings ; O'Neal frequently referred to the Sacramento team as the `` Queens. '' During the 2002 victory parade, O'Neal declared that Sacramento would never be the capital of California, after the Lakers beat the Kings in a tough seven game series en route to its third championship with O'Neal. He also received media flak for mocking Chinese people when interviewed about newcomer center Yao Ming. O'Neal told a reporter, `` you tell Yao Ming, ching chong yang, wah, ah so. '' O'Neal later said it was locker room humor and he meant no offense. Yao believed that O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would n't see the humor. Yao joked, `` Chinese is hard to learn. I had trouble with it when I was little. '' O'Neal later admitted that he regretted how he treated Yao early in his career. During the 2005 NBA playoffs, O'Neal compared his poor play to Erick Dampier, a Dallas Mavericks center who had failed to score a single point in one of their recent games. The quip inspired countless citations and references by announcers during those playoffs, though Dampier himself offered little response to the insult. The two would meet in the 2006 NBA Finals. O'Neal was very vocal with the media, often making jabs at former Laker teammate Kobe Bryant. In the summer of 2005, when asked about Bryant, he responded, `` I 'm sorry, who ? '' and continued to pretend that he did not know who Bryant was until well into the 2005 -- 06 season. O'Neal also appeared on television on Saturday Night Live ( he was initially picked to host the second episode of season 24 in 1998, but had to back down due to scheduling conflicts, being replaced by Kelsey Grammer ) ; however, he did appear in two sketches during the episode ) and in 2007 hosted Shaq 's Big Challenge, a reality show on ABC in which he challenged Florida kids to lose weight and stay in shape. When the Lakers faced the Heat on January 16, 2006, O'Neal and Bryant made headlines by engaging in handshakes and hugs before the game, an event that was believed to signify the end of the so - called `` Bryant -- O'Neal feud '' that had festered since the center left Los Angeles. O'Neal was quoted as saying that he accepted the advice of NBA legend Bill Russell to make peace with Bryant. However, on June 22, 2008, O'Neal freestyled a diss rap about Bryant in a New York club. While rapping, O'Neal blamed Bryant for his divorce from his wife Shaunie and claims to have received a vasectomy, as part of a rhyme. He also taunted Bryant for not being able to win a championship without him. O'Neal led the audience to mockingly chant several times `` Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes. '' O'Neal justified his act by saying `` I was freestyling. That 's all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever. That is what MCs do. They freestyle when called upon. I 'm totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all. '' Although even other exponents of hip hop, such as Snoop Dogg, Nas and Cory Gunz, agreed with O'Neal, Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio expressed his intention to relieve O'Neal of his Maricopa County sheriff posse badge, due to `` use of a racially derogatory word and other foul language ''. The racial quote from his song was `` it 's like a white boy trying to be more nigga than me. '' Off the court Education O'Neal left LSU for the NBA after three years. However, he promised his mother he would eventually return to his studies and complete his bachelor 's degree. He fulfilled that promise in 2000, earning his bachelor of arts in general studies. Coach Phil Jackson let O'Neal miss a home game so he could attend graduation. At the ceremony, he told the crowd `` now I can go and get a real job ''. Subsequently, O'Neal earned an MBA online through the University of Phoenix in 2005. In reference to his completion of his MBA degree, he stated : `` It 's just something to have on my resume for when I go back into reality. Someday I might have to put down a basketball and have a regular 9 - to - 5 like everybody else. '' Toward the end of his playing career, he began work on an Ed. D. in Human Resource Development at Barry University. His doctoral capstone topic was `` The Duality of Humor and Aggression in Leadership Styles ''. O'Neal received his degree in 2012. O'Neal told a reporter for ABC News that he plans to further his education still by attending law school. O'Neal has also studied directing and cinematography with the New York Film Academy 's Filmmaking Conservatory. Law enforcement O'Neal maintained a high level of interest in the workings of police departments and became personally involved in law enforcement. O'Neal went through the Los Angeles County Sheriff 's Reserve Academy and became a reserve officer with the Los Angeles Port Police. He appeared in a commercial for ESPN in Miami Police garb climbing a tree to rescue LSU 's costumed mascot Mike the Tiger. On March 2, 2005, O'Neal was given an honorary U.S. Deputy Marshal title and named the spokesman for the Safe Surfin ' Foundation ; he served an honorary role on the task force of the same name, which tracks down sexual predators who target children on the Internet. Upon his trade to Miami, O'Neal began training to become a Miami Beach reserve officer. On December 8, 2005, he was sworn in, but elected for a private ceremony to avoid distracting attention from the other officers. He assumed a $1 per year salary in this capacity. Shortly thereafter, in Miami, O'Neal witnessed a hate crime ( assaulting a man while calling out homophobic slurs ) and called Miami - Dade police, describing the suspect and helping police, over his cell phone, track the offender. O'Neal's actions resulted in the arrest of two suspects on charges of aggravated battery, assault, and a hate crime. In September 2006, O'Neal took part in a raid on a home in rural Bedford County, Virginia. O'Neal had been made an `` honorary deputy '' by the local sheriff 's department. O'Neal was not qualified as a SWAT officer. In December 2016, O'Neal was sworn in as a sheriff 's deputy in Jonesboro, Georgia as part of Clayton County, Georgia Sheriff 's Department. O'Neal holds the county record of Tallest Sheriff 's Deputy. Music career Shaquille O'Neal Genres Hip hop Occupation ( s ) Rapper Years active 1993 -- 2001 ; 2017 Labels Jive, Interscope, A&M, Trauma Associated acts Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, DJ Kayslay Beginning in 1993, O'Neal began to compose rap music. He released five studio albums and 1 compilation album. Although his rapping abilities were criticized at the outset, one critic credited him with `` progressing as a rapper in small steps, not leaps and bounds ''. His 1993 debut album, Shaq Diesel, received platinum certification from the RIAA. O'Neal was featured alongside Michael Jackson as a guest rapper on `` 2 Bad '', a song from Jackson 's 1995 album HIStory. He contributed three tracks, including the song `` We Genie '', to the Kazaam soundtrack. O'Neal was also featured in Aaron Carter 's 2001 hit single `` That 's How I Beat Shaq ''. Shaq also appears on the music video for the release. Shaquille O'Neal conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra at the Boston Symphony Hall on December 20, 2010. In July 2017, O'Neal released a diss track aimed at LaVar Ball, the father of NBA point guard Lonzo Ball. The three minute song was released in response to Ball claiming him and his younger son LaMelo, would beat O'Neal and his son Shareef in a game of basketball. Acting Starting with Blue Chips and Kazaam, O'Neal appeared in movies that were panned by some critics. O'Neal is one of the first African Americans to portray a major comic book superhero in a motion picture, having starred as John Henry Irons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Steel. He is preceded only by Michael Jai White, whose film Spawn was released two weeks before Steel. O'Neal appeared as himself on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, bedridden after Larry David 's character accidentally tripped him while stretching, and in two episodes each of My Wife and Kids and The Parkers. He appeared in cameo roles in the films, Freddy Got Fingered, Jack and Jill and Scary Movie 4. O'Neal appeared in the 311 music video for the hit single `` You Would n't Believe '' in 2001, in P. Diddy 's video for `` Bad Boys 4 Life '', the video for Aaron Carter 's `` That 's How I Beat Shaq '', and the video for Owl City 's `` Vanilla Twilight ''. O'Neal appeared in the movie CB4 in a small `` interviewing '' scene. O'Neal appeared in a SportsCenter commercial dressed in his Miami police uniform, rescuing Mike the Tiger from a tree. O'Neal reportedly wanted a role in the film X2 ( the second in the X-Men film series ), but was ignored by the filmmakers. O'Neal appeared as Officer Fluzoo in the comedy sequel Grown Ups 2. He voiced animated versions of himself on several occasions, including in the animated series Static Shock ( episode `` Static Shaq '' ), in Johnny Bravo ( episode `` Back on Shaq '' ), in Uncle Grandpa ( episode `` Perfect Kid '' ), and in The Lego Movie. He also had a voice over role in the 2013 film, The Smurfs 2. Video games O'Neal was featured on the covers of video games NBA Live 96, NBA 2K6, NBA 2K7, NBA Showtime : NBA on NBC, NBA Hoopz, and NBA Inside Drive 2004. O'Neal appeared in the arcade version of NBA Jam ( 1993 ), NBA Jam ( 2003 ) and NBA Live 2004 as a current player and as a 1990s All - Star. O'Neal starred in Shaq Fu, a fighting game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis. O'Neal also appeared in Backyard Basketball in 2004, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing : Round 2 as a playable boxer, and as an unlockable character in Delta Force : Black Hawk Down. O'Neal was also an unlockable character in UFC Undisputed 2010. A sequel, Shaq Fu : A Legend Reborn, is set for release in 2018. Television O'Neal and his mother, Lucille Harrison, were featured in the documentary film Apple Pie, which aired on ESPN. O'Neal had a 2005 reality series on ESPN, Shaquille, and hosted a series called Shaq 's Big Challenge on ABC. O'Neal appeared on NBA Ballers and NBA Ballers : Phenom, in the 2002 Discovery Channel special Motorcycle Mania 2 requesting an exceptionally large bike to fit his large size famed custom motorcycle builder Jesse James, in the first Idol Gives Back in 2007, on an episode of Fear Factor, and on an episode of MTV 's Jackass, where he was lifted off the ground on Wee Man 's back. O'Neal was a wrestling fan and made appearances at many WWE events. O'Neal was pranked on the MTV show Punk 'd when a crew member accused him of stealing his parking space. After O'Neal and his wife went into a restaurant, Ashton Kutcher 's crew members let the air out of O'Neal's tires. O'Neal and the crew member then got into an altercation and after Kutcher told O'Neal he had been Punk 'd, O'Neal made an obscene gesture at the camera. O'Neal starred in a reality show called Shaq Vs. which premiered on August 18, 2009, on ABC. The show featured O'Neal competing against other athletes at their own sports. On July 14, 2011, O'Neal announced that he would join Turner Network Television ( TNT ) as an analyst on its NBA basketball games, joining Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley. He hosted the show Upload with Shaquille O'Neal which aired on TruTV for one season. In September 2015 whilst promoting sportswear giant Reebok in South Korea, O'Neal joined the cast in the South Korean variety television show Off to School where he went to Seo Incheon High School. The show features various celebrities attending a selected high school as students for three days. The producer of the show, Kim No Eun said, `` We 've worked hard on our guest list this season, so Chu Sung Hoon will be appearing on a cable channel for the first time. Shaquille O'Neal will be on the show as well. We succeeded in casting him after a lot of effort. O'Neal will be visiting Korea for a promotion and will be visiting the school on the last day. He will have lunch with the students. We 're even preparing a big match between Chu Sung Hoon and Shaquille O'Neal. We 're specially preparing a uniform for Shaquille O'Neal. '' Advertising O'Neal has made numerous appearances in television commercials, including several Pepsi commercials, such as one from 1995 which parodied shows like I Love Lucy ( the `` Job Switching '' episode ), Bonanza, and Woody Woodpecker ; various 1990s Reebok commercials ; Nestlé Crunch commercials ; Gold Bond products ; The General insurance commercials ; and IcyHot commercials. Mixed martial arts O'Neal began training in mixed martial arts ( MMA ) in 2000. At Jonathan Burke 's Gracie Gym, he trained in boxing, jiu - jitsu, Muay Thai and wrestling. At the gym, he used the nickname Diesel. O'Neal challenged kickboxer and mixed martial artist Choi Hong - man to a mixed martial arts rules bout in a YouTube video posted on June 17, 2009. Hong - man replied to an email asking him if he would like to fight O'Neal saying `` Yes, if there is a chance. '' Hong - man also responded to a question asking if O'Neal had a chance of winning with a simple `` No. '' On August 28, 2010, at UFC 118 in Boston, O'Neal reiterated his desire to fight Choi in an interview. Professional Wrestling A lifelong professional wrestling fan, O'Neal has made numerous appearances at televised events over the years for three different promotions. In 1994, O'Neal made several appearances in World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ), including at the Bash at the Beach pay per view, where he presented the title belt to the winner of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship match between Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. In July 2009, O'Neal served as the guest host for a live broadcast of WWE 's Monday Night Raw. As part of the show, O'Neal got into a physical altercation with seven - foot tall wrestler Big Show. In September 2012, O'Neal made a guest appearance on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 's Impact Wrestling program, where he had a backstage segment with Hulk Hogan. In April 2016, O'Neal participated in his first ever match, when he was a surprise celebrity entry in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32. O'Neal eliminated Damien Sandow, and had another confrontation with Big Show before being eliminated himself by most of the other wrestlers. In July at the 2016 ESPY Awards on the red carpet, Show and Shaq had another brief confrontation. A match was proposed for WrestleMania 33, which Shaq accepted. In January 2017, the two began calling each other out on social media, posting workout videos of themselves preparing for the potential match. After weeks of discussion, the match was cancelled. According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the match was canceled due to monetary reasons, as both parties could not agree on a deal. Big Show later stated it was scheduling issues on Shaq 's part that caused the cancellation. Business ventures O'Neal is also an active businessman and investor. He was an active bond investor in the early 1990s but continued to wade into stocks and made investments in various companies such as General Electric, Apple, and PepsiCo. He described what has worked best for him in stock investing was where he felt a personal connection with the company. He has also been an active real estate entrepreneur. O'Neal was looking to expand his business ventures with real - estate development projects aimed at assisting Orlando home owners facing foreclosure. His plans involved buying the mortgages of those who had fallen into foreclosure and then selling the homes back to them under more affordable terms. He would make a small profit in return, but wanted to make an investment in Orlando and help out homeowners. In conjunction with Boraie Development, O'Neal has developed projects in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey including, CityPlex12 and One Riverview. O'Neal is on the advisory board for Tout Industries, a social video service startup company based in San Francisco. He received the position in return for breaking news of his NBA retirement on the service. In September 2013, O'Neal became a minority owner of the Sacramento Kings. In June 2015, O'Neal invested in technology startup Loyale3 Holdings Inc., a San Francisco brokerage firm whose website and mobile app enables companies to sell a piece of their IPOs directly to small investors who put up as a little as $100 and also allows investors to regularly buy small amounts of shares in already public companies. O'Neal is an investor for eSports team NRG Esports. He has also appeared in television commercials promoting the Counter-Strike : Global Offensive league ELeague. In late 2016 O'Neal purchased the Krispy Kreme location at 295 Ponce de Leon Avenue Atlanta, GA. O'Neal is also the Global Spokesperson for the company. Personal life O'Neal at the 2009 NBA All - Star game O'Neal was raised by a Baptist mother and a Muslim stepfather. Both Robin Wright in her book Rock the Casbah as well as the Los Angeles Times have identified O'Neal as a Muslim. However, O'Neal has said, `` I 'm Muslim, I 'm Jewish, I 'm Buddhist, I 'm everybody ' cause I 'm a people person. '' Marriage to Shaunie O'Neal married Shaunie Nelson on December 26, 2002. The couple have four children : Shareef, Amirah, Shaqir, and Mearah. Nelson also has one son from a previous relationship, Myles. On September 4, 2007, O'Neal filed for divorce from Shaunie in a Miami - Dade Circuit court. Shaunie later said that the couple had gotten back together and that the divorce was withdrawn. However, on November 10, 2009, Shaunie filed an intent to divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. In 2015, Shareef was seen in high school basketball highlights as a 6 - foot - 7 - inch ( 2.01 m ) freshman power forward, and had been described to have `` polar opposite playing style to his father '' due to his more athletic build and better shooting range. Shareef, later rated as a top - 30 prospect in the recruiting class of 2018, had committed to play college basketball at the University of Arizona, but rescinded the commitment in February 2018 after Arizona head coach Sean Miller was linked to potential major violations of NCAA recruiting rules. Girlfriends O'Neal also has a daughter from a previous relationship with his ex-girlfriend Arnetta Yarbourgh, Taheara O'Neal. In summer 2010, O'Neal began dating reality TV star Nicole `` Hoopz '' Alexander. The couple resided at O'Neal's home in Sudbury, Massachusetts, and later split in 2012. Since 2014 O'Neal has been dating Laticia Rolle, a model, originally from Gardner, Massachusetts. Outside of basketball In June 2005 when Hall of Fame center George Mikan died, O'Neal, who considered Mikan to be a major influence, extended an offer to his family to pay all of the funeral expenses, which they accepted. O'Neal is a 2009 inductee of the New Jersey Hall of Fame. O'Neal became a Freemason in 2011, becoming a member of Widow 's Son Lodge No. 28 in Boston. O'Neal is a Prince Hall Freemason. On January 31, 2012, O'Neal was honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald 's All - Americans. O'Neal is a fan of the National Hockey League 's New Jersey Devils, who play in his hometown of Newark, and has been seen at several games over the years. On January 11, 2014, O'Neal performed the ceremonial first puck and drove a Zamboni for a game between the Devils and the Florida Panthers. O'Neal is also a fan of English football club Northampton Town, and has posted videos of support to their official YouTube page. O'Neal endorsed Republican New Jersey governor Chris Christie in his 2013 reelection bid, appearing in a television advertisement. NBA career statistics See also : List of career achievements by Shaquille O'Neal Legend GP Games played GS Games started MPG Minutes per game FG % Field goal percentage 3P % 3 - point field goal percentage FT % Free throw percentage RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high † Denotes seasons in which O'Neal won an NBA championship * Led the league Regular season Year Team GP GS MPG FG % 3P % FT % RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 1992 -- 93 Orlando 81 81 37.9. 562. 000. 592 13.9 1.9. 7 3.5 23.4 1993 -- 94 Orlando 81 81 39.8. 599 *. 000. 554 13.2 2.4. 9 2.9 29.3 1994 -- 95 Orlando 79 79 37.0. 583. 000. 533 11.4 2.7. 9 2.4 29.3 * 1995 -- 96 Orlando 54 52 36.0. 573. 500. 487 11.0 2.9. 6 2.1 26.6 1996 -- 97 L.A. Lakers 51 51 38.1. 557. 000. 484 12.5 3.1. 9 2.9 26.2 1997 -- 98 L.A. Lakers 60 57 36.3. 584 *. 000. 527 11.4 2.4. 7 2.4 28.3 1998 -- 99 L.A. Lakers 49 49 34.8. 576 *. 000. 540 10.7 2.3. 7 1.7 26.3 1999 -- 00 † L.A. Lakers 79 79 40.0. 574 *. 000. 524 13.6 3.8. 5 3.0 29.7 * 2000 -- 01 † L.A. Lakers 74 74 39.5. 572 *. 000. 513 12.7 3.7. 6 2.8 28.7 2001 -- 02 † L.A. Lakers 67 66 36.1. 579 *. 000. 555 10.7 3.0. 6 2.0 27.2 2002 -- 03 L.A. Lakers 67 66 37.8. 574. 000. 622 11.1 3.1. 6 2.4 27.5 2003 -- 04 L.A. Lakers 67 67 36.8. 584 *. 000. 490 11.5 2.9. 5 2.5 21.5 2004 -- 05 Miami 73 73 34.1. 601 *. 000. 461 10.4 2.7. 5 2.3 22.9 2005 -- 06 † Miami 59 58 30.6. 600 *. 000. 469 9.2 1.9. 4 1.8 20.0 2006 -- 07 Miami 40 39 28.4. 591. 000. 422 7.4 2.0. 2 1.4 17.3 2007 -- 08 Miami 33 33 28.6. 581. 000. 494 7.8 1.4. 6 1.6 14.2 2007 -- 08 Phoenix 28 28 28.7. 611. 000. 513 10.6 1.7. 5 1.2 12.9 2008 -- 09 Phoenix 75 75 30.0. 609 *. 000. 595 8.4 1.7. 6 1.4 17.8 2009 -- 10 Cleveland 53 53 23.4. 566. 000. 496 6.7 1.5. 3 1.2 12.0 2010 -- 11 Boston 37 36 20.3. 667. 000. 557 4.8. 7. 4 1.1 9.2 Career 1,207 1,197 34.7. 582. 045. 527 10.9 2.5. 6 2.3 23.7 All - Star 12 9 22.8. 551. 000. 452 8.1 1.4 1.1 1.6 16.8 Playoffs Year Team GP GS MPG FG % 3P % FT % RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 1994 Orlando 42.0. 511. 000. 471 13.3 2.3. 7 3.0 20.7 1995 Orlando 21 21 38.3. 577. 000. 571 11.9 3.3. 9 1.9 25.7 Orlando 12 12 38.3. 606. 000. 393 10.0 4.6. 8 1.3 25.8 1997 L.A. Lakers 9 9 36.2. 514. 000. 610 10.6 3.2. 6 1.9 26.9 1998 L.A. Lakers 13 13 38.5. 612. 000. 503 10.2 2.9. 5 2.6 30.5 1999 L.A. Lakers 8 8 39.4. 510. 000. 466 11.6 2.3. 9 2.9 26.6 2000 † L.A. Lakers 23 23 43.5. 566. 000. 456 15.4 3.1. 6 2.4 30.7 2001 † L.A. Lakers 16 16 42.3. 555. 000. 525 15.4 3.2. 4 2.4 30.4 2002 † L.A. Lakers 19 19 40.8. 529. 000. 649 12.6 2.8. 5 2.5 28.5 2003 L.A. Lakers 12 12 40.1. 535. 000. 621 14.8 3.7. 6 2.8 27.0 L.A. Lakers 22 22 41.7. 593. 000. 429 13.2 2.5. 3 2.8 21.5 2005 Miami 13 13 33.2. 558. 000. 472 7.8 1.9. 4 1.5 19.4 2006 † Miami 23 23 33.0. 612. 000. 374 9.8 1.7. 5 1.5 18.4 2007 Miami 30.3. 559. 000. 333 8.5 1.3. 3 1.5 18.8 2008 Phoenix 5 5 30.0. 440. 000. 500 9.2 1.0 1.0 2.6 15.2 Cleveland 11 11 22.1. 516. 000. 660 5.5 1.4. 2 1.2 11.5 2011 Boston 0 6.0. 500. 000. 000. 0. 5. 5. 0 1.0 Career 216 214 37.5. 563. 000. 504 11.6 2.7. 5 2.1 24.3 Discography Main article : Shaquille O'Neal discography Shaq Diesel ( 1993 ) Shaq Fu : Da Return ( 1994 ) You Ca n't Stop the Reign ( 1996 ) Respect ( 1998 ) Shaquille O'Neal Presents His Superfriends, Vol. 1 ( Unreleased ) Filmography Films Year Title Role Notes 1994 Blue Chips Neon Boudeaux Kazaam Kazaam 1997 Good Burger Himself Steel John Henry Irons / Steel 1998 He Got Game Himself 2001 The Wash Norman Freddy Got Fingered Himself After the Sunset 2006 Scary Movie 4 2008 The House Bunny 2011 Jack and Jill 2013 Grown Ups 2 Officer Fluzoo The Smurfs 2 Smooth Smurf ( Voice ) 2014 The Lego Movie Himself ( Voice ) Blended Doug 2018 Show Dogs Karma ( Voice ) Uncle Drew Big Fella Television Year Title Role Notes Arliss Himself Episode : `` A Man of Our Times '' 2001 For Your Love Episode : '' The Model Client '' My Wife and Kids 2 Episodes Curb Your Enthusiasm Episode : `` Shaq '' 2002 Static Shock Episode : `` Static Shaq '' 2002 -- 04 The Parkers 2 Episodes 2003 The Bernie Mac Show Episode : `` Eye of the Tiger '' The Tracy Morgan Show Episode : `` Career Day '' Johnny Bravo ' Episode : `` Back on Shaq '' 2009 WWE Raw 2011 The Cleveland Show Episode : `` A Short Story and a Tall Tale '' 2013 Real Husbands of Hollywood Episode : `` Retreat for Couples '' Jimmy Kimmel Live ! 2 Episodes Southland Detective Earl Dayton Episode : `` The Felix Paradox '' 2014 Uncle Grandpa Himself Episode : `` The Perfect Kid '' 2015 -- 16 Fresh Off the Boat 2 Episodes 2015 Off to School Episodes 59 - 62 2017 -- 18 The Simpsons 2017 Jimmy Kimmel Live ! Guest Host, October 30, 2017 Awards and nominations Year Nominated work Result CableACE Awards Sports Theater with Shaquille O'Neal Children 's Special - 7 and Older Won Golden Raspberry Awards 1995 Blue Chips Worst New Star Nominated 1998 Steel Worst Actor Nominated 2015 Blended Worst Supporting Actor Nominated Bibliography Shaq Attaq ! ( 1994 ) A Good Reason to Look Up ( 1998 ) Shaq and the Beanstalk and Other Very Tall Tales ( 1999 ) Shaq Talks Back ( 2002 ) Shaq Uncut : My Story ( 2011 ) See also National Basketball Association portal List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders List of National Basketball Association career minutes played leaders List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders List of National Basketball Association career playoff blocks leaders List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders List of individual National Basketball Association scoring leaders by season List of National Basketball Association players with most points in a game List of National Basketball Association single - game blocks leaders List of National Basketball Association seasons played leaders Highest - paid NBA players by season Shaq -- Kobe feud List of NCAA Division I men 's basketball career blocks leaders List of NCAA Division I men 's basketball season blocks leaders List of NCAA Division I men 's basketball season rebounding leaders List of Freemasons References Jump up ^ `` CBS Sports ' 50 greatest NBA players of all time : Where do LeBron, Curry rank ? ''. CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2017 - 12 - 18. Jump up ^ `` All - Time # NBArank : Shaq comes in at No. 9 ''. ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017 - 12 - 18. Jump up ^ `` SLAM 500 Greatest NBA Players of All Time Basketball-Reference.com ''. Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017 - 12 - 18. Jump up ^ Roth, Mark ( March 3, 2006 ). `` Male Hollywood stars do n't stand as tall as we imagine ''. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 8, 2012. Jump up ^ Heisler, Mark. `` Shaquille O'Neal traded to Cleveland Cavaliers for 3 players, cash ''. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2010. Jump up ^ Zillgitt, Jeff ( August 5, 2010 ). `` Void filled : 15 - time All - Star Shaquille O'Neal to Celtics ''. USA Today. Retrieved March 15, 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` Shaquille O'Neal NBA & ABA Statistics ''. Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 1, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016 Announcement presented by Haggar Clothing Company ''. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. April 4, 2016. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2016. Jump up ^ Dream Team, Shaq and Kukoc headline 2017 Class of FIBA Hall of Fame Inductees. Jump up ^ `` Homepage ''. The Big Podcast with Shaq -- via podcastone.com. Jump up ^ `` Kings Guard Gaming Names Shaquille O'Neal First General Manager ''. ThePostGame. 2018 - 04 - 02. Retrieved 2018 - 04 - 04. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal Biography ( 1972 -- ) ''. filmreference.com. ^ Jump up to : Plaschke, Bill ( June 12, 2002 ). `` ' Biological Did n't Bother ' ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 21, 2011. Jump up ^ Wise, Mike ( September 9, 2016 ). `` Shaq to biological father : ' I do n't hate you ' ''. The Undefeated. ESPN. Retrieved September 10, 2016. Jump up ^ Ryan, Michael ( February 13, 2000 ). `` Where They Gave Me A Chance ''. Parade. Archived from the original on June 28, 2006. Retrieved March 21, 2006. Jump up ^ `` Shaq Sets Bar High for Young Lives, BIG Stories Campaign ''. Army.mil. United States Army. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Key Moments In Shaquille O'neal History ''. South Florida Sun - Sentinel. July 11, 2004. Retrieved January 2, 2011. Jump up ^ McMurray, Bill. Bill McMurray 's Texas High School All - Time Sports Record Book ( 6th ed. ). Four Star Publications. ^ Jump up to : Schmitz, Brian ( August 25, 1992 ). `` Shaquille Shows Class In Switching To No. 32 ''. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 14, 2017. Jump up ^ `` O'Neal to get degree from LSU ''. The Daily Texan. December 12, 2000. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved March 7, 2007. Jump up ^ barrystickets.com ( 2007 ). O'Neal : LSU Hall of Fame. Retrieved on March 3, 2007, from http://www.barrystickets.com/lakers/lakers-players/shaquille-oneal.php. Jump up ^ Athletic Department. `` LSU Basketball Practice Facility -- LSUsports.net -- The Official Web Site of LSU Tigers Athletics ''. LSUsports.net. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Jump up ^ Luke, Chelsea. ( April 28, 2015 ). `` College triple - double header : Kyle Collinsworth versus Shaquille O'Neal ''. Retrieved June 17, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Michael Carter - Williams Named Eastern Conference Player of the Week ''. NBA.com. Jump up ^ `` MAGIC : Magic History ''. NBA.com/magic. Archived from the original on February 1, 2008. Retrieved March 10, 2008. Jump up ^ McCallum, Jack ( March 3, 1997 ). `` The Young And The Feckless ''. Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. On more than one occasion during O'Neal's rookie season of 1992 -- 93, I heard him say of his then coach, `` We 've got to get Matty ( Guokas ) out of here and bring in Brian. '' Jump up ^ `` Hill Is Named Coach of Magic ''. The New York Times. July 1, 1993. Retrieved November 6, 2010. Matt Guokas, who coached the Orlando Magic to the National Basketball Association 's most improved record last season, was replaced today by an assistant, Brian Hill, and was reassigned to the front office as Orlando 's vice president of basketball development. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal 1993 -- 94 Game Log ''. Basketball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved August 5, 2010. Jump up ^ `` 1994 - 95 Season - THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE ORLANDO MAGIC ''. www.nba.com. ^ Jump up to : MacMullan, Jackie ( July 1, 1996 ). `` Poof ! Shaquille O'Neal is among a host of NBA free agents who could vanish from their teams ''. Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. It asked whether the Magic should fire coach Brian Hill if that were one of O'Neal's conditions for returning. An overwhelming 82 % answered no. ^ Jump up to : Wojnarowski, Adrian ( June 2, 2009 ). `` Shaq 's legacy binds Magic, Lakers ''. Yahoo ! Sports. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. The poll appeared as Shaq and the Olympic basketball team trained in town. ^ Jump up to : Reilly, Rick ( April 21, 1997 ). `` Shaq 's world ''. Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. He hated the power struggle with his coach, Brian Hill. ^ Jump up to : Blinebury, Fran ( July 1, 2010 ). `` Magic are proof that wounds from star 's departure do heal ''. NBA.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. There were occasional gripes at coach Brian Hill. Jump up ^ O'Neal, Shaquille ( 2002 ). Shaq Talks Back. St. Martin 's Paperbacks. p. 52. ISBN 978 - 0 - 312 - 98259 - 1. Retrieved November 7, 2010. We just did n't respect him. Sometimes he went from nice to hardcore and people were looking around, like, ' This ai n't the guy we know. ' Jump up ^ O'Neal, Shaquille ( 2002 ). Shaq Talks Back. St. Martin 's Paperbacks. p. 151. ISBN 978 - 0 - 312 - 98259 - 1. Retrieved November 14, 2010. When I was in Orlando, I really felt like a big fish in a small, dried - up pond. No matter what I did, it got talked about, until I could n't really live my life. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, pp. 104 -- 5, 108, 110. Jump up ^ `` NBA -- Lakers Sign O'Neal Raise Ticket Prices ''. The Seattle Times. Associated Press. July 18, 1996. Jump up ^ `` Shaq signs multi-million contract with LA Lakers ''. Manila Standard. July 20, 1996. Retrieved December 29, 2010. Jump up ^ Araton, Harvey ( July 19, 1996 ). `` Sports of The Times ; Shaq Is Now California Dreamin ' ''. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 15, 2010. Retrieved November 15, 2010. So is greed, Michael Douglas once argued as Gordon Gekko, though O'Neal's changing coasts and uniforms is not about money. We repeat : not about money. Jump up ^ Elliot, Stuart ( November 4, 1993 ). `` Sports Products Deal For Shaquille O'Neal ''. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 15, 2010. Retrieved November 15, 2010. The athlete 's other product agreements include Pepsi - Cola and Reebok. Jump up ^ `` 1997 Playoff Results ''. NBA.com. Retrieved December 29, 2010. Jump up ^ Stein, Marc ( December 19, 1996 ). `` O'Neal wanted to pack more offensive punch ''. Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved April 26, 2011 -- via thefreelibrary.com. Jump up ^ `` 1998 Playoff Results ''. NBA.com. Retrieved June 17, 2015. Jump up ^ Kreigel, Mark ( May 18, 2011 ). `` Jackson shares thoughts on final season ''. FoxSports.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015... Retrieved June 17, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Shaq, Barkley scuffle, are ejected ''. Associated Press. November 11, 1999. Retrieved January 8, 2012. Jump up ^ Heisler, Mark ( May 11, 2011 ). `` Phil Jackson 's tenure produced the most success and fun we 've ever seen ''. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Lakers hold off Sixers, 96 -- 91 ''. Amarillo Globe - News. Associated Press. June 11, 2001. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. The 76ers trailed from the second quarter on and missed their one and only chance to tie the game when Allen Iverson could make only one of two free throws with 2 : 06 left -- 15 seconds after O'Neal drew his sixth foul for backing over Dikembe Mutombo. ^ Jump up to : Brown, Tim ( August 14, 2002 ). `` O'Neal Surgery Is Likely ''. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 15, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2010. A month before last training camp he had surgery to correct a claw toe deformity in the smallest toe of his left foot. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, p. 153. Jump up ^ `` Shaq to be sacked ''. Sports Illustrated. January 13, 2002. Jump up ^ Berkow, Ira ( January 16, 2002 ). `` Sports of The Times ; N.B.A. Needs To Hit Shaq Much Harder ''. The New York Times. Jump up ^ McCallum, Jack ( June 3, 2002 ). `` Trading blows and barbs, big men Vlade Divac and Shaquille O'Neal have turned the Western finals into comic opera ''. Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. There was some head - scratching before it was divined that O'Neal meant `` cheat '' and not something either X-rated or far out, like `` covenant '' or `` coronet. '' ^ Jump up to : `` Shaquille O'Neal Bio Page ''. NBA.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2011. sat out the first 12 games of the season ( Oct. 29 - Nov. 22 ) on the Injured List recovering from off - season foot surgery ^ Jump up to : O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, p. 155. ^ Jump up to : Ventre, Mark ( December 12, 2005 ). `` It looks like Shaq 's reshuffling Heat house ''. NBCSports.com. Retrieved October 13, 2010. Remember, this is the same Shaquille O'Neal who, while with the Lakers, once waited all summer to have his injured toe operated on, then did so just before training camp and explained, `` I got hurt on company time, so I 'll heal on company time. '' Jump up ^ `` 2002 -- 03 Los Angeles Lakers Schedule and Results ''. basketball-reference.com. Retrieved October 13, 2010. Jump up ^ Lazenby, Roland ( 2006 ). The Show : The Inside Story of the Spectacular Los Angeles Lakers in the Words of Those Who Lived It. New York City : McGraw - Hill Professional. p. 421. ISBN 978 - 0 - 07 - 143034 - 0. Retrieved April 18, 2011. Jump up ^ Bryant, Kobe ( October 28, 2003 ). `` Kobe critical of Shaq 's leadership ''. Interviewed by Jim Gray. ESPN. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Jump up ^ Lazenby 2006, p. 428. Jump up ^ `` Shaq happy, Lakers in shock after trade ''. MSNBC.com. NBC. July 15, 2004. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Jump up ^ Lazenby 2006, p. 434. Jump up ^ `` 2004 -- 05 NBA Awards Voting ''. Basketball Reference. Retrieved June 1, 2011. Jump up ^ Robbins, Liz ( December 27, 2005 ). `` BASKETBALL ; Riley, Advocating for O'Neal, Objects to the ' Sumo ' Defense ''. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 17, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2010. The criticism O'Neal and others had for Van Gundy after the Heat 's loss to Detroit in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last season was that he did not call enough plays for O'Neal. Jump up ^ `` Shaq makes long - term plans in Miami ''. Retrieved June 17, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Shaq rips Van Gundy for flop comment ''. Retrieved December 4, 2017. Jump up ^ Shaq Quotes Archived January 9, 2016, at the Wayback Machine... Retrieved June 17, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Kobe or Shaq : Who Has Been More Important To Their Teams Over the Years ? ''. Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 17, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Kraczkowski, Kevin. `` Miami Heat Player Countdown : 15. Shaquille O'Neal ''. ( October 7, 2013 ). Retrieved June 17, 2015. ^ Jump up to : `` Heat Playoff History 2006 ''. Retrieved June 17, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Knicks take advantage of Shaq-less heat with blowout ''. ESPN. Associated Press. November 17, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2010. Starting with Shaquille O'Neal's left knee, the Miami Heat are hurting. Jump up ^ `` Shaq, Wade return in Heat 's OT loss to Pacers ''. ESPN. Associated Press. January 24, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2010. O'Neal, who came off the bench after missing 35 games while recovering from knee surgery, finished with five points and five rebounds in 14 minutes. Jump up ^ `` Shaq rips Jackson as ' Benedict Arnold ' ''. NBC Sports. December 26, 2006. Archived from the original on November 10, 2010. Retrieved November 12, 2010. `` How can Benedict Arnold be reliable in what he says ? '' O'Neal said Monday after the Miami Heat 's 101 -- 85 victory over the Lakers, the Los Angeles Times reported. ^ Jump up to : ( 1 ). Retrieved June 17, 2015. Jump up ^ Thorpe, David. ( March 3, 2007 ). `` Scouting breakdown : Can Shaq carry the Heat ? ''. Retrieved June 17, 2015. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011 p. 206. Jump up ^ O'Neal, Shaquille ; MacMullan, Jackie ( 2011 ). Shaq Uncut : My Story. Grand Central Publishing. pp. 210 -- 11. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4555 - 0441 - 1. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, p. 212. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, pp. 215 -- 16. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, p. 216. Jump up ^ Ludden, Johnny ( February 6, 2008 ). `` Suns, Heat agree to Shaq trade ''. Yahoo ! Sports. Retrieved November 13, 2010. In a move that could signify a dramatic change to their go - go - go, let - it - fly style of play, the Phoenix Suns acquired former All - Star center Shaquille O'Neal from the Miami Heat on Wednesday for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. Jump up ^ `` Daily Dime : Shaq gets the spotlight, while Kobe gets the game ''. ESPN. com. February 21, 2008. ^ Jump up to : Shaquille O'Neal career stats and splits NBA.com Jump up ^ Austin Burton. `` Why Shaq ? Here 's Why ''. dimemag.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Jump up ^ `` Riley bothered by Shaq 's criticism of Heat players, staff ''. ESPN. March 27, 2008. Archived from the original on November 13, 2010. Retrieved November 13, 2010. We have professionals who know what to do. No one is asking me to play with Chris Quinn or Ricky Davis. I 'm actually on a team again. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan p. 221. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan p. 213. Jump up ^ `` Player profile -- Shaquille O'Neal ''. yahoo.com. Jump up ^ `` Magic 's Van Gundy calls out Shaq for flopping ''. ESPN. Associated Press. March 3, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2010. I was shocked, seriously, shocked ``, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said of O'Neal's flopping. `` And very disappointed cause he knows what it 's like. Let 's stand up and play like men, and I think our guy did that tonight. Jump up ^ Sheridan, Chris ( March 5, 2009 ). `` Shaq rips Van Gundy for flop comment ''. ESPN. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. `` Flopping is playing like that your whole career. I was trying to take the charge, trying to get a call. It probably was a flop, but flopping is the wrong use of words. Flopping would describe his coaching '', O'Neal said, steering the conversation back to Van Gundy. Jump up ^ Madsen, Mark ( March 7, 2009 ). `` What is a flop ? ''. MarkMadsen.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. So, this whole commotion about whether or not Shaq 's play against Dwight Howard was a flop is so funny because everyone in the league tries to flop on Shaq and Shaq never flops back. Jump up ^ Gregory, Sean ( October 30, 2006 ). `` 10 Questions for Shaquille O'Neal ''. Time. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. Make a guy have to beat a guy -- not flop and get calls and be nice to the referees and kiss ass. Jump up ^ Friedman, Jason ( March 6, 2009 ). `` Clash Of The Titans ''. Rockets.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. `` It 's not going to be man - on - man, so do n't even try that, '' says O'Neal with an incredulous laugh. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, p. 213. Jump up ^ `` Cavaliers Acquire 15 - Time NBA All - Star and Four - Time NBA Champion Shaquille ONeal ''. NBA.com. June 25, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2009. Jump up ^ News, A.B.C. `` ABC Sports News ''. ABC News. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, pp. 234 -- 37. Jump up ^ `` Cleveland Cavaliers ' Shaquille O'Neal leaves game with ' significant thumb injury ''. Associated Press. February 25, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2010. Jump up ^ `` The Game Happens Here ''. NBA.com. Retrieved August 5, 2010. Jump up ^ Siddiqi, DJ ( September 6, 2016 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal : Cavaliers should have won title in 2010 ''. 247sports.com. Retrieved January 2, 2018. Jump up ^ Washburn, Gary ( September 19, 2010 ). `` Grousbeck 's faith goes right down to the core ''. The Boston Globe. Retrieved October 14, 2010. `` The minute I heard Kobe ( Bryant ) say he had one more ring than Shaq, I said to Danny, ' Let 's go get Shaq, ' and it happened '', said Grousbeck. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, pp. 243 -- 44. Jump up ^ Boston Celtics ( August 4, 2010 ). `` Celtics Sign Shaquille O'Neal ''. NBA.com/Celtics. Jump up ^ Washburn, Gary ( August 5, 2010 ). `` Shaq aboard for two years ''. The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010. All Ainge had to offer was the veteran minimum of $1.35 million, and O'Neal compromised by accepting that on a two - year deal. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, p. 241. Jump up ^ Beck, Howard ( July 23, 2010 ). `` Multiple Nicknames ; Dwindling Openings ''. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 17, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2010. The Dallas Mavericks had interest, but balked at O'Neal's salary demands. Jump up ^ Cunningham, Michael ( August 5, 2010 ). `` Atlanta Hawks : No Shaq... now what ? ''. The Atlanta Journal - Constitution. Archived from the original on November 17, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2010. Atlanta also was n't willing to pay Shaq more than the minimum and that was a sticking point for him. Jump up ^ Shaughnessy, Dan ( August 11, 2010 ). `` A large addition to Celtics ' sizeable history -- The Boston Globe ''. www.boston.com. Retrieved August 10, 2010. ^ Jump up to : MacMullan, Jackie ( September 27, 2010 ). `` Shaq ready to leave mark in Boston ''. ESPN. Retrieved October 14, 2010. But I do n't compete with little guards. I do n't compete with little guys who run around dominating the ball, throwing up 30 shots a night -- like D - Wade, Kobe. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, p. 244. ^ Jump up to : May, Peter ( April 11, 2011 ). `` Celtics Creak Toward Postseason, Hoping They Have Legs for a Run ''. The New York Times. p. D7. Archived from the original on April 12, 2011. Jump up ^ Forsberg, Chris ( November 11, 2010 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal starts vs. Heat ''. ESPNBoston.com. Retrieved March 22, 2011. Jump up ^ Forsberg, Chris ( December 19, 2010 ). `` Celtics get Shaquille O'Neal back ''. ESPNBoston.com. Retrieved March 22, 2011. Jump up ^ Forsberg, Chris ( January 22, 2011 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal injures hip ''. ESPNBoston.com. Retrieved March 22, 2011. Jump up ^ Payne, Greg ( March 7, 2011 ). `` Shaq says he 's 85 percent ; out another week ''. ESPNBoston.com. Retrieved March 22, 2011. Jump up ^ Payne, Greg ( May 16, 2011 ). `` Doc Rivers : Timing of trade was off ''. ESPNBoston.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan p. 256. Jump up ^ `` Amare Stoudemire back as Celts ' reserves top Knicks ' second string ''. ESPN. Associated Press. April 13, 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2011. Shaquille O'Neal, who has played 5 minutes, 29 seconds since Feb. 1, also sat out. Jump up ^ Forsberg, Chris ( May 18, 2011 ). `` Report card : Shaquille O'Neal ''. ESPNBoston.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan p. 257. Jump up ^ `` Shaq announces retirement on web ''. ESPN. June 1, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2011. ^ Jump up to : Olivarez - Giles, Nathan ( June 1, 2011 ). `` Shaq announces NBA retirement on Twitter, using Tout iPhone app ''. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 2, 2011. Jump up ^ Reynolds, Tim ( June 3, 2011 ). `` Shaq moving on to the next chapter -- retirement ''. Yahoo ! Sports. Retrieved June 3, 2011. Jump up ^ ESPN ( 2 ) Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, p. 112. Jump up ^ Jackie MacMullan The NBA, Sports Illustrated, March 29, 1999. Jump up ^ SCOTT HOWARD - COOPER and TIM KAWAKAMI O'Neal, Bryant Still Possible for Olympics, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2000. Jump up ^ Chris Sheridan Weight of the world leans on U.S. team, The Seattle Times, September 2, 2002. Jump up ^ Marc Stein Team USA carousel continues, ESPN, May 29, 2004. Jump up ^ AP Colangelo says Shaq not ruling out Olympics, ESPN, January 7, 2006. Jump up ^ Michael Cunningham Full Summer Gives U.s. Players More Than A Workout, South Florida Sun - Sentinel, July 21, 2006. Jump up ^ `` SUNS : Shaq on Board ''. NBA.com. Retrieved December 29, 2010. Jump up ^ Roberts, Selena ( September 13, 1993 ). `` New This Year In Nba : Shaq - proof Backboards ''. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 25, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Career Leaders and Records for Field Goal Pct ''. Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Phoenix Suns vs. San Antonio Spurs - Recap - April 29, 2008 ''. ESPN. April 29, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Jump up ^ Through the 2004 -- 2005 season. `` Regular Season Records : Free Throws ''. NBA.com. Retrieved December 29, 2010. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, p. 139. Jump up ^ `` Career Leaders and Records for Free Throw Attempts -- ''. Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2010. Jump up ^ Bob Baum ( December 25, 2008 ). `` Mason 's 3 - pointer gives Spurs 91 -- 90 win over Suns ''. nba.com. Associated Press. Jump up ^ Benjamin, Josh. ( September 21, 2012 ). `` 5 Things Dwight Howard Does Better Than Shaquille O'Neal Ever Did With The LA Lakers ''. Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 22, 2015. Jump up ^ Medina, Mark ( June 1, 2011 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal's retirement brings reflections on his legacy with the Lakers ''. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Jump up ^ Eric Pincus ( April 2, 2013 ). `` Lakers retire Shaquille O'Neal's jersey ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 2, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Shaq and 31 more athletes with numbers retired by multiple teams ''. FOX Sports. Retrieved December 22, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Shaq Now Among Small Group Of Athletes Whose Numbers Have Been Retired By Multiple Teams ''. Shaq. Archived from the original on February 26, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016. Jump up ^ Mike Bresnahan & Robyn Norwood ( June 12, 2007 ). `` Bank shot could pay off for Shaq ''. Los Angeles Times. Jump up ^ Jack McCallum ( December 10, 2002 ). `` Inside the NBA -- SI 's Jack McCallum : Sizing up Shaq ''. CNNSI.com. CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter ( link ) Jump up ^ Geof Harris ( December 18, 2010 ). `` Shaq Diesel : Never Say Never Again ''. the low post news. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. ^ Jump up to : Heisler, Mark ( June 1, 2011 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal was not always the most dominating, but always the most fun ''. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 2, 2011. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, p. 205 Jump up ^ Dave McNary ( June 23, 2000 ). `` Admen strike back against SAG / AFTRA ''. Variety. Jump up ^ `` Sports stars break Hollywood strike ''. BBC News. June 22, 2000. Jump up ^ Tim Povtak ( November 5, 2002 ). `` Kings Come Out Fighting ''. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Jump up ^ Marc Narducci ( April 19, 2003 ). `` Kings Eyeing Crown, not L.A. '' The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Shaq was more than a dominant player ''. Sacramento Bee. June 1, 2011. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Jump up ^ Mark Medina ( June 2, 2011 ). `` Top 5 Shaq moments as a Laker ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Jump up ^ Guillermo, Emil ( January 14, 2003 ). `` Shaq 's Apology Not Good Enough ''. San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved August 25, 2010. Perhaps we should put it in terms Shaq might understand : If a white comedian imitated Shaq by making monkey sounds while eating fried chicken and watermelon, would the point be clearer ? Jump up ^ Vecsey, George ( January 12, 2003 ). `` Sports of The Times ; Fans in Shanghai Are Voting in the Mainstream ''. The New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2010. Yao quickly said : `` The world is getting smaller, and I think it 's important to have a greater understanding of other cultures. I believe Shaquille O'Neal was joking, but I think that a lot of Asian people do n't understand that kind of joke. '' Jump up ^ Brown, Tim ( January 10, 2003 ). `` Tall tale ? Shaq says Yao comments were said in jest ''. SI.com. CNN. Associated Press. Retrieved August 25, 2010. `` Chinese is hard to learn. I had trouble with it when I was little '', Yao joked. Jump up ^ Wilborn, Michael ( December 20, 2010 ). `` Ca n't overestimate Yao Ming 's impact ''. ESPN. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Shaq : ' I 've been playing like Erick Dampier ' ''. ESPN. May 13, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Jump up ^ `` NBA.com : Finals 2006 ''. ESPN. 2006. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Jump up ^ An A-to - Z remembrance of Shaq 's career -- basketball and ( mostly ) otherwise -- Sports Illustrated, CNN Jump up ^ `` Miami vs. Los Angeles -- Recap ''. ESPN. Associated Press. January 16, 2006. Jump up ^ `` Shaq Attacks Kobe : You Ruined My Marriage ''. TMZ. June 23, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Shaq takes a freestyle swipe at Kobe ''. ESPN.com. Associated Press. June 23, 2008. Jump up ^ Reid, Shaheem ( June 24, 2008 ). `` Snoop Dogg, Nas, Cory Gunz See Nothing Wrong With Shaquille O'Neal's Anti-Kobe Freestyle ''. `` MTV.com. Jump up ^ `` Shaq booted from sheriff 's ' posse ' for Kobe rap ''. San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. June 24, 2008. Jump up ^ `` O'Neal to get degree from LSU ''. Associated Press. August 6, 2004. Jump up ^ `` The Big Executive ? Shaq masters MBA ''. MSNBC. Associated Press. June 26, 2005. ^ Jump up to : The New York Times ( 2010 ). Questions For Shaquille O'Neal -- Hoop Dreams -- Interview. Retrieved August 13, 2010. Jump up ^ Barry University ( 2010 ). Educational Doctorate ( Ed. D. ) in Human Resource Development, Barry University. Retrieved August 13, 2010. Jump up ^ Gus Garcia - Roberts ( April 19, 2012 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal, Barry University Student, Is Not Actually Doing a Dissertation ''. Retrieved May 4, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal and ADSOE Faculty ''. Retrieved May 4, 2012. Jump up ^ page 3 of Shira Springer ( August 29, 2010 ). `` BIG man on campus ''. The Boston Globe. Jump up ^ Lateef Mungin ( May 5, 2012 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal to receive doctorate degree ''. CNN. Jump up ^ Knaub, Kelly ( May 6, 2012 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal earns Doctorate ''. ABC Radio News website. Retrieved May 6, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal set to graduate from New York Film Academy : NBA star wants to be a director ''. Daily News. August 16, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Going undercover - Shaq helps task force track Internet sex predators ''. SI.com. May 25, 2005. ^ Jump up to : `` Shaq sworn in as reserve police officer ''. NBCSports.com. Associated Press. December 10, 2005. Jump up ^ `` Second Man Arrested After Tip From Shaquille O'Neal ''. November 3, 2005. Archived from the original on July 14, 2009. Jump up ^ Balko, Radley ( July 9, 2013 ). `` Chapter 8 : THE 2000 's - A WHOLE NEW WAR ''. Rise of the Warrior Cop : The Militarization of America 's Police Forces. PublicAffairs. pp. 288 -- 289. ISBN 978 - 1 - 61039 - 212 - 9. Kindle Location 5188 Jump up ^ Brett, Jennifer. `` Shaq is now a sheriff 's deputy in Georgia ''. ajc. Retrieved December 6, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Shaq Diesel ''. allmusicguide.com. Jump up ^ `` You Ca n't Stop the Reign ''. ew.com. December 13, 1996. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal Presents His Superfriends, Vol. 1 '' review allmusicguide.com Jump up ^ Shaquille O'Neal at AllMusic. Retrieved June 17, 2011. Jump up ^ Adi Joseph ( March 6, 2013 ). `` Shaq finally gets revenge on Aaron Carter ''. USA Today. Retrieved March 26, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Blue Chips ( 1994 ) -- Film Review from ''. Film4. Retrieved August 5, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Kazaam Movie Reviews, Pictures ''. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 5, 2010. Jump up ^ Army Archerd ( August 23, 2001 ). `` Touchy topic addressed in upcoming pix ''. Variety. Retrieved April 6, 2008. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal ''. Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved June 14, 2016. Jump up ^ `` The NBA Live Wiki -- Covers ''. Archived from the original on August 28, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Shaq to Grace Cover of NBA 2K6 ''. IGN. August 15, 2005. Archived from the original on August 6, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2012. Jump up ^ G., Matt. `` Shaq Stays as Cover Athlete for NBA 2K7 ''. Planet Xbox 360. Retrieved May 7, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Midway Games Signs Shaquille O'Neal for NBA Showtime : NBA on NBC ''. October 7, 1999. Retrieved May 7, 2012. Jump up ^ Cernea, Mihail ( May 26, 2010 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal Is a Playable Fighter in UFC Undisputed 2010 ''. Softpedia. Retrieved May 7, 2012. Jump up ^ Sarkar, Samit ( March 6, 2014 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal funding Shaq Fu sequel on Indiegogo for $450 K ''. Polygon. Retrieved May 19, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal & Lucille Harrison ''. applepiemovie.com. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ `` '' Apple Pie '' and mom on Mother 's Day ``. ESPN. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille ( TV series 2005 ) ''. IMDb. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Shaq 's Big Challenge ( 2007 ) ''. IMDb. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ `` NBA Ballers : Phenom Characters ''. giantbomb.com. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Motorcycle Mania 2 ( 2004 ) ''. blockbuster.com. Archived from the original on March 13, 2011. Jump up ^ Caruso, Andrea. `` American Idol 's Ryan Seacrest Gives Back to Idol Gives Back ''. voices.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ Blackmon, Joe. `` Shaquille O'Neal On Fear Factor ''. Reality TV Magazine. Archived from the original on November 7, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Jackass Jason `` Wee - Man '' Acuna ``. mtv.ca. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Shaq takes out Big Show on Raw ''. wwe.com. Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Punk 'd -- Season 5 -- Episode 8 ''. muchmusic.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ Shaquille O'Neal on IMDb Jump up ^ Levin, Gary ( July 20, 2009 ). `` O'Neal courts competition on new reality show ' Shaq Vs. ' ''. USA Today. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Shaq to star in TV sports reality series -- NBA -- ESPN ''. ESPN. July 21, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2010. Jump up ^ Shaq ( July 14, 2011 ). `` Life 's Moments ''. TOUT. Retrieved March 29, 2012. Jump up ^ Kang, Byeong - jin. `` NBA 스타 샤킬 오닐, ' 학교 다녀 오 겠습니다 ' 출연 한다 ''. The Huffington Post Korea. Retrieved August 14, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal and Chu Sung Hoon to Guest on `` Off to School '' ``. soompi. August 12, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015. Jump up ^ Smiley, Brett ( September 2, 2015 ). `` Watch : Shaq fist - bumps giddy students in return to high school on Korean TV show ''. foxsports. Retrieved September 14, 2015. Jump up ^ Heck, Jordan ( September 2, 2015 ). `` Shaq became high school student for Korean TV show ''. sportingnews. Retrieved September 14, 2015. Jump up ^ Hendricks, Maggie ( May 6, 2009 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal : hoopster, twitter fan, MMA fighter ? ''. Yahoo ! Sports. Retrieved July 22, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Hong Man Choi Accepts Shaquille O'Neal's Mixed Martial Arts Challenge -- MMA Fighting ''. Mma.fanhouse.com. October 21, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal Takes in UFC 118 Still Wants to Fight Hong Man Choi ''. www.mmafighting.com. August 28, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Here 's A Portrait Of Shaquille O'Neal And Hulk Hogan In New York City On 9 / 11 ''. October 24, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal hosts ' Monday Night Raw, ' gets physical ''. Jump up ^ `` PWTorch.com - TNA News : Impact news & notes - Shaq one - segment appearance, TV Title status, next week 's theme, more ''. www.pwtorch.com. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal entered the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32 ''. Retrieved January 14, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Diot 's WWE WrestleMania 32 Review - 411MANIA ''. www.411mania.com. Jump up ^ Big show challanges Shaq Jump up ^ Bieler, Dan ( July 16, 2016 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal accepts WrestleMania challenge from Big Show ''. The Washington Post. Retrieved July 14, 2016. Jump up ^ Van Vliet, Chris ( November 16, 2016 ). `` WWE 's Big Show talks to Deco, teases WrestleMania 33 ''. WSVN. Retrieved January 10, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal calls out Big Show ''. WWE. January 10, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2017. Jump up ^ WWE.com Staff ( January 15, 2017 ). `` Big Show tweets out his incredible physique as he prepares for WrestleMania ''. WWE. Retrieved January 16, 2017. Jump up ^ Gerweck, Steve ( March 14, 2017 ). `` Reason why WWE canceled Shaq vs Big Show at WrestleMania 33 ''. Gerweck.net. Retrieved March 20, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Big Show Thinks Braun Strowman Will Be One Of The All - Time Greats ''. January 12, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2018. ^ Jump up to : TELIS DEMOS ( June 12, 2015 ). `` Shaq Attacks IPO Access, Invests in Loyal3 ''. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 13, 2015. Jump up ^ Schlueb, Mark ( June 11, 2008 ). `` Shaq : I can help homeowners fight off foreclosure ''. Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved June 11, 2008. Jump up ^ `` One River View at Rector ''. Emporis. Retrieved December 8, 2013. Jump up ^ Haddon, Heather ( September 26, 2013 ). `` Star Comes Home to Build in Newark Shaquille O'Neal in Real Estate Development Partnership ''. The Wall Street Journal. Jump up ^ Munson, John ( September 27, 2013 ). `` Shaq comes back to Newark to break ground for city 's first high - rise apartment in more than 50 years ''. The Star - Ledger. Jump up ^ `` Booker, Shaquille O'Neal and other dignitaries break ground on new high - rise apartments ''. Essex News Daily. September 30, 2013. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2013. Jump up ^ `` NEW JERSEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY : Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit Program : Approved Projects '' ( PDF ). Mjeda.com. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, pp. 263 -- 4. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal buys a stake in the Sacramento Kings ''. Jump up ^ `` Shaq, A-Rod, Rollins invest in esports team ''. Jump up ^ `` ELEAGUE have brought back Shaq 's memorable acting skills ''. May 18, 2016. Jump up ^ Chambers, Brianna. `` Shaquille O'Neal buys Krispy Kreme store ''. ajc. Retrieved December 6, 2016. Jump up ^ Jack McCallum ( June 17, 2002 ). `` The Shaq Factor ''. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 22, 2013. Jump up ^ Wright, Robin ( August 1, 2011 ). `` Rock the Casbah ''. The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 23, 2013. Jump up ^ Brown, Tim ( January 11, 2003 ). `` O'Neal Issues Apology ''. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 23, 2013. Jump up ^ Brown, Tim ; Plaschke, Bill ( May 29, 2002 ). `` Shaq and Hedo Share a Moment ''. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 23, 2013. Jump up ^ Alison Kugel ( November 11, 2011 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal Talks Kobe Bryant, Pat Riley & NBA Politics : ' I Did It My Way ' ''. PR.com. Retrieved February 22, 2013. Jump up ^ Shaquille O'Neal, wife splitting up Yahoo ! News, November 10, 2009 Jump up ^ Brooke, Tyler. `` Shaquille O'Neal's Son Shareef O'Neal Does Not Play Like His Dad ''. Jump up ^ `` Watch : Shaq 's son dominates as a high school freshman ''. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 13, 2015. Jump up ^ Borzello, Jeff ( February 24, 2018 ). `` Arizona commit Shareef O'Neal, Shaquille 's son, opens recruitment amid probe ''. ESPN.com. Retrieved February 24, 2018. Jump up ^ O'Neal, MacMullan 2011, p. 209. Jump up ^ Goldstein, Meredith ( February 3, 2011 ). `` Hoopz is right at home with Shaq ''. The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 9, 2011. Jump up ^ Dwyer, Kelly ( May 21, 2011 ). `` Shaquille O'Neal's girlfriend schools him on sleep apnea ''. Yahoo ! Sports. Retrieved August 9, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Keeping Up With Shaq '', The Boston Globe, February 3, 2011 ( retrieved February 5, 2011 ). Jump up ^ Pride, Ann ( August 27, 2012 ). `` Game over : NBA star Shaquille O'Neal and fiancée Nicole ' Hoopz ' Alexander call it quits ''. Daily Mail. Retrieved October 30, 2016. Jump up ^ https://heavy.com/entertainment/2016/08/laticia-rolle-shaquille-oneal-girlfriend-dating-married-fiancee-engaged-basketball-age-ethnicity-parents-who-is/ Jump up ^ `` Family accepts O'Neal's offer -- NBA -- ESPN ''. Sports.espn.go.com. June 3, 2005. Retrieved March 29, 2012. Jump up ^ New Jersey to Bon Jovi : You Give Us a Good Name Yahoo ! News, February 2, 2009. Jump up ^ Chris Hodapp ( June 12, 2011 ). `` Freemasons For Dummies : Brother Shaquille O'Neal ''. Freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com. Retrieved August 10, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal : Freemason ''. YouTube. February 27, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal Show off His Freemason Ring on NBATV ''. Beginning And End. January 14, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal Proudly Shows Off Illuminati Ring and Being a Freemason ( VIDEO ) AT2W ''. Atoast2wealth.com. January 14, 2012. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Wilkins Honored as One of 35 Greatest McDonald 's All Americans ''. NBA. January 31, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2012. Jump up ^ Wyshynski, Greg ( November 3, 2008 ). `` Video : Shaquille O'Neal, New Jersey Devils fan -- Puck Daddy -- NHL Blog -- Yahoo ! Sports ''. Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Shaq drives the Zamboni in Newark ''. YouTube. January 11, 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Jump up ^ `` NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal celebrates Northampton 's promotion ''. April 5, 2016. Jump up ^ Kennedy, Robert F. `` Shaq backs Christie : ' I believe him ' ''. Politico. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Shaquille O'Neal makes debut as late - night TV host ''. nba.com. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017. External links Media related to Shaquille O'Neal at Wikimedia Commons Quotations related to Shaquille O'Neal at Wikiquote Career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference.com Shaquille O'Neal on IMDb Shaquille O'Neal at Louisiana State Shaquille O'Neal Family Shareef O'Neal ( son ) Shaunie O'Neal ( ex-wife ) Music Studio albums Shaq Diesel Shaq Fu : Da Return You Ca n't Stop the Reign Respect Shaquille O'Neal Presents His Superfriends, Vol. 1 Compilation albums The Best of Shaquille O'Neal Singles `` ( I Know I Got ) Skillz '' `` I 'm Outstanding '' `` Shoot Pass Slam '' `` Biological Did n't Bother '' `` No Hook '' `` You Ca n't Stop the Reign '' `` Strait Playin ' '' `` Men of Steel '' `` The Way It 's Goin ' Down '' TV Shaquille Shaq 's Big Challenge Shaq Vs. Shaqtin ' a Fool Upload with Shaquille O'Neal Other Discography Hack - a-Shaq Shaq Fu Shaq -- Kobe feud Links to related articles United States squad -- 1994 FIBA World Championship -- Gold medal 4 Dumars 5 Price 6 Coleman 7 Kemp 8 Smith 9 Majerle 10 Miller 11 K. Johnson 12 Wilkins 13 O'Neal ( MVP ) 14 Mourning 15 L. Johnson Coach : Nelson FIBA World Cup Most Valuable Player Award 1950 : Furlong 1954 : Minter 1959 : Pasos 1963 : Marques 1967 : Daneu 1970 : Belov 1974 : Kićanović 1978 : Dalipagić 1982 : Frazer 1986 : Petrović 1990 : Kukoč 1994 : O'Neal 1998 : Bodiroga 2002 : Nowitzki 2006 : Gasol 2010 : Durant 2014 : Irving United States men 's basketball squad -- 1996 Summer Olympics -- Gold medal 4 Barkley 5 Hill 6 Hardaway 7 Robinson 8 Pippen 9 Richmond 10 Miller 11 Malone 12 Stockton 13 O'Neal 14 Payton 15 Olajuwon Coach : Wilkens USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year 1980 : Thomas 1981 : Boyle 1982 : Rivers 1983 : Jordan 1984 : Jordan & Perkins 1985 : Person 1986 : Robinson 1987 : Manning 1988 : Majerle 1989 : Johnson 1990 : Mourning 1991 : Laettner 1992 : U.S. men 's national team 1993 : Finley 1994 : O'Neal 1995 : Allen 1996 : Pippen 1997 : Boykins 1998 : Brand 1999 : Payton 2000 : Mourning 2001 : Duhon 2002 : Miller 2003 : Duncan 2004 : May & Paul 2005 : Williams 2006 : Anthony 2007 : Kidd 2008 : U.S. men 's national team 2009 : McAdoo 2010 : Durant 2011 : Parker 2012 : James 2013 : Gordon 2014 : Irving 2015 : Brunson 2016 : Anthony & Durant 2017 : Warney 1992 NBA draft First round Shaquille O'Neal Alonzo Mourning Christian Laettner Jim Jackson LaPhonso Ellis Tom Gugliotta Walt Williams Todd Day Clarence Weatherspoon Adam Keefe Robert Horry Harold Miner Bryant Stith Malik Sealy Anthony Peeler Randy Woods Doug Christie Tracy Murray Don MacLean Hubert Davis Jon Barry Oliver Miller Lee Mayberry Latrell Sprewell Elmore Spencer Dave Johnson Byron Houston Second round Marlon Maxey P.J. Brown Sean Rooks Reggie Smith Brent Price Corey Williams Chris Smith Tony Bennett Duane Cooper Isaiah Morris Elmer Bennett Litterial Green Steve Rogers Popeye Jones Matt Geiger Predrag Danilović Henry Williams Chris King Robert Werdann Darren Morningstar Brian Davis Ron Ellis Matt Fish Tim Burroughs Matt Steigenga Curtis Blair Brett Roberts NBA first overall draft picks 1947 : McNeely 1948 : Tonkovich 1949 : Shannon 1950 : Share 1951 : Melchiorre 1952 : Workman 1953 : Felix 1954 : Selvy 1955 : Ricketts 1956 : Green 1957 : Hundley 1958 : Baylor 1959 : Boozer 1960 : Robertson 1961 : Bellamy 1962 : McGill 1963 : Heyman 1964 : Barnes 1965 : Hetzel 1966 : Russell 1967 : Walker 1968 : Hayes 1969 : Alcindor 1970 : Lanier 1971 : Carr 1972 : L. Martin 1973 : Collins 1974 : Walton 1975 : D. Thompson 1976 : Lucas 1977 : Benson 1978 : M. Thompson 1979 : E. Johnson 1980 : Carroll 1981 : Aguirre 1982 : Worthy 1983 : Sampson 1984 : Olajuwon 1985 : Ewing 1986 : Daugherty 1987 : D. Robinson 1988 : Manning 1989 : Ellison 1990 : Coleman 1991 : L. Johnson 1992 : O'Neal 1993 : Webber 1994 : G. Robinson 1995 : Smith 1996 : Iverson 1997 : Duncan 1998 : Olowokandi 1999 : Brand 2000 : K. Martin 2001 : Brown 2002 : Yao 2003 : James 2004 : Howard 2005 : Bogut 2006 : Bargnani 2007 : Oden 2008 : Rose 2009 : Griffin 2010 : Wall 2011 : Irving 2012 : Davis 2013 : Bennett 2014 : Wiggins 2015 : Towns 2016 : Simmons 2017 : Fultz 2018 : Ayton Los Angeles Lakers 1999 -- 2000 NBA champions 2 Fisher 3 George 4 Harper 5 Horry 8 Bryant 10 Lue 11 Celestand 16 Salley 17 Fox 20 Shaw 34 O'Neal ( Finals MVP ) 40 Knight 41 Rice 45 Green Head coach Jackson Assistant coaches Winter Hamblen Cleamons Bertka Regular season Playoffs Los Angeles Lakers 2000 -- 01 NBA champions 2 Fisher 3 George 4 Harper 5 Horry 7 Rider 8 Bryant 10 Lue 12 Penberthy 14 Medvedenko 17 Fox 20 Shaw 34 O'Neal ( Finals MVP ) 35 Madsen 40 Foster 54 Grant Head coach Jackson Assistant coaches Winter Hamblen Cleamons Regular season Playoffs Los Angeles Lakers 2001 -- 02 NBA champions 2 Fisher 3 George 5 Horry 6 McCoy 8 Bryant 10 Hunter 14 Medvedenko 17 Fox 20 Shaw 23 Richmond 34 O'Neal ( Finals MVP ) 35 Madsen 52 Walker Head coach Jackson Assistant coaches Winter Hamblen Cleamons Rambis Regular season Playoffs Miami Heat 2005 -- 06 NBA champions 3 Wade ( Finals MVP ) 5 D. Anderson 8 Walker 20 Payton 24 Kapono 25 Simien 32 O'Neal 33 Mourning 40 Haslem 42 Posey 49 S. Anderson 51 Doleac 55 Williams Head coach Riley Assistant coaches Spoelstra McAdoo Rothstein Askins Coles Regular season Playoffs National Basketball Association 's 50 Greatest Players in NBA History Kareem Abdul - Jabbar Nate Archibald Paul Arizin Charles Barkley Rick Barry Elgin Baylor Dave Bing Larry Bird Wilt Chamberlain Bob Cousy Dave Cowens Billy Cunningham Dave DeBusschere Clyde Drexler Julius Erving Patrick Ewing Walt Frazier George Gervin Hal Greer John Havlicek Elvin Hayes Magic Johnson Sam Jones Michael Jordan Jerry Lucas Karl Malone Moses Malone Pete Maravich Kevin McHale George Mikan Earl Monroe Hakeem Olajuwon Shaquille O'Neal Robert Parish Bob Pettit Scottie Pippen Willis Reed Oscar Robertson David Robinson Bill Russell Dolph Schayes Bill Sharman John Stockton Isiah Thomas Nate Thurmond Wes Unseld Bill Walton Jerry West Lenny Wilkens James Worthy Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award 1969 : West 1970 : Reed 1971 : Alcindor 1972 : Chamberlain 1973 : Reed 1974 : Havlicek 1975 : Barry 1976 : White 1977 : Walton 1978 : Unseld 1979 : D. Johnson 1980 : E. Johnson 1981 : Maxwell 1982 : E. Johnson 1983 : Malone 1984 : Bird 1985 : Abdul - Jabbar 1986 : Bird 1987 : E. Johnson 1988 : Worthy 1989 : Dumars 1990 : Thomas 1991 : Jordan 1992 : Jordan 1993 : Jordan 1994 : Olajuwon 1995 : Olajuwon 1996 : Jordan 1997 : Jordan 1998 : Jordan 1999 : Duncan 2000 : O'Neal 2001 : O'Neal 2002 : O'Neal 2003 : Duncan 2004 : Billups 2005 : Duncan 2006 : Wade 2007 : Parker 2008 : Pierce 2009 : Bryant 2010 : Bryant 2011 : Nowitzki 2012 : James 2013 : James 2014 : Leonard 2015 : Iguodala 2016 : James 2017 : Durant 2018 : Durant NBA Most Valuable Player Award 1956 : Pettit 1957 : Cousy 1958 : Russell 1959 : Pettit 1960 : Chamberlain 1961 : Russell 1962 : Russell 1963 : Russell 1964 : Robertson 1965 : Russell 1966 : Chamberlain 1967 : Chamberlain 1968 : Chamberlain 1969 : Unseld 1970 : Reed 1971 : Alcindor 1972 : Abdul - Jabbar 1973 : Cowens 1974 : Abdul - Jabbar 1975 : McAdoo 1976 : Abdul - Jabbar 1977 : Abdul - Jabbar 1978 : Walton 1979 : M. Malone 1980 : Abdul - Jabbar 1981 : Erving 1982 : M. Malone 1983 : M. Malone 1984 : Bird 1985 : Bird 1986 : Bird 1987 : Johnson 1988 : Jordan 1989 : Johnson 1990 : Johnson 1991 : Jordan 1992 : Jordan 1993 : Barkley 1994 : Olajuwon 1995 : Robinson 1996 : Jordan 1997 : K. Malone 1998 : Jordan 1999 : K. Malone 2000 : O'Neal 2001 : Iverson 2002 : Duncan 2003 : Duncan 2004 : Garnett 2005 : Nash 2006 : Nash 2007 : Nowitzki 2008 : Bryant 2009 : James 2010 : James 2011 : Rose 2012 : James 2013 : James 2014 : Durant 2015 : Curry 2016 : Curry 2017 : Westbrook 2018 : Harden NBA Rookie of the Year Award 1953 : Meineke 1954 : Felix 1955 : Pettit 1956 : Stokes 1957 : Heinsohn 1958 : Sauldsberry 1959 : Baylor 1960 : Chamberlain 1961 : Robertson 1962 : Bellamy 1963 : Dischinger 1964 : Lucas 1965 : Reed 1966 : Barry 1967 : Bing 1968 : Monroe 1969 : Unseld 1970 : Alcindor 1971 : Cowens & Petrie 1972 : Wicks 1973 : McAdoo 1974 : DiGregorio 1975 : Wilkes 1976 : Adams 1977 : Dantley 1978 : Davis 1979 : Ford 1980 : Bird 1981 : Griffith 1982 : Williams 1983 : Cummings 1984 : Sampson 1985 : Jordan 1986 : Ewing 1987 : Person 1988 : Jackson 1989 : Richmond 1990 : Robinson 1991 : Coleman 1992 : Johnson 1993 : O'Neal 1994 : Webber 1995 : Hill & Kidd 1996 : Stoudamire 1997 : Iverson 1998 : Duncan 1999 : Carter 2000 : Brand & Francis 2001 : Miller 2002 : Gasol 2003 : Stoudemire 2004 : James 2005 : Okafor 2006 : Paul 2007 : Roy 2008 : Durant 2009 : Rose 2010 : Evans 2011 : Griffin 2012 : Irving 2013 : Lillard 2014 : Carter - Williams 2015 : Wiggins 2016 : Towns 2017 : Brogdon 2018 : Simmons IBM Award 1984 : Johnson 1985 : Jordan 1986 : Barkley 1987 : Barkley 1988 : Barkley 1989 : Jordan 1990 : Robinson 1991 : Robinson 1992 : Rodman 1993 : Olajuwon 1994 : Robinson 1995 : Robinson 1996 : Robinson 1997 : Hill 1998 : K. Malone 1999 : Mutombo 2000 : O'Neal 2001 : O'Neal 2002 : Duncan NBA season scoring leaders 1947 : Fulks 1948 : Zaslofsky 1949 : Mikan 1950 : Mikan 1951 : Mikan 1952 : Arizin 1953 : Johnston 1954 : Johnston 1955 : Johnston 1956 : Pettit 1957 : Arizin 1958 : Yardley 1959 : Pettit 1960 : Chamberlain 1961 : Chamberlain 1962 : Chamberlain 1963 : Chamberlain 1964 : Chamberlain 1965 : Chamberlain 1966 : Chamberlain 1967 : Barry 1968 : Bing 1969 : Hayes 1970 : West 1971 : Alcindor 1972 : Abdul - Jabbar 1973 : Archibald 1974 : McAdoo 1975 : McAdoo 1976 : McAdoo 1977 : Maravich 1978 : Gervin 1979 : Gervin 1980 : Gervin 1981 : Dantley 1982 : Gervin 1983 : English 1984 : Dantley 1985 : King 1986 : Wilkins 1987 : Jordan 1988 : Jordan 1989 : Jordan 1990 : Jordan 1991 : Jordan 1992 : Jordan 1993 : Jordan 1994 : Robinson 1995 : O'Neal 1996 : Jordan 1997 : Jordan 1998 : Jordan 1999 : Iverson 2000 : O'Neal 2001 : Iverson 2002 : Iverson 2003 : McGrady 2004 : McGrady 2005 : Iverson 2006 : Bryant 2007 : Bryant 2008 : James 2009 : Wade 2010 : Durant 2011 : Durant 2012 : Durant 2013 : Anthony 2014 : Durant 2015 : Westbrook 2016 : Curry 2017 : Westbrook 2018 : Harden NBA All - Star Game Most Valuable Player Award 1951 : Macauley 1952 : Arizin 1953 : Mikan 1954 : Cousy 1955 : Sharman 1956 : Pettit 1957 : Cousy 1958 : Pettit 1959 : Baylor & Pettit 1960 : Chamberlain 1961 : Robertson 1962 : Pettit 1963 : Russell 1964 : Robertson 1965 : Lucas 1966 : A. Smith 1967 : Barry 1968 : Greer 1969 : Robertson 1970 : Reed 1971 : Wilkens 1972 : West 1973 : Cowens 1974 : Lanier 1975 : Frazier 1976 : Bing 1977 : Erving 1978 : R. Smith 1979 : Thompson 1980 : Gervin 1981 : Archibald 1982 : Bird 1983 : Erving 1984 : Thomas 1985 : Sampson 1986 : Thomas 1987 : Chambers 1988 : Jordan 1989 : Malone 1990 : Johnson 1991 : Barkley 1992 : Johnson 1993 : Stockton & Malone 1994 : Pippen 1995 : Richmond 1996 : Jordan 1997 : Rice 1998 : Jordan 1999 : No game played 2000 : O'Neal & Duncan 2001 : Iverson 2002 : Bryant 2003 : Garnett 2004 : O'Neal 2005 : Iverson 2006 : James 2007 : Bryant 2008 : James 2009 : Bryant & O'Neal 2010 : Wade 2011 : Bryant 2012 : Durant 2013 : Paul 2014 : Irving 2015 : Westbrook 2016 : Westbrook 2017 : Davis 2018 : James Associated Press Men 's College Basketball Player of the Year 1961 : Lucas 1962 : Lucas 1963 : Heyman 1964 : Bradds 1965 : Bradley 1966 : Russell 1967 : Alcindor 1968 : Hayes 1969 : Alcindor 1970 : Maravich 1971 : Carr 1972 : Walton 1973 : Walton 1974 : Thompson 1975 : Thompson 1976 : May 1977 : Johnson 1978 : Lee 1979 : Bird 1980 : Aguirre 1981 : Sampson 1982 : Sampson 1983 : Sampson 1984 : Jordan 1985 : Ewing 1986 : Berry 1987 : D. Robinson 1988 : Hawkins 1989 : Elliott 1990 : Simmons 1991 : O'Neal 1992 : Laettner 1993 : Cheaney 1994 : G. Robinson 1995 : Smith 1996 : Camby 1997 : Duncan 1998 : Jamison 1999 : Brand 2000 : Martin 2001 : Battier 2002 : Williams 2003 : West 2004 : Nelson 2005 : Bogut 2006 : Redick 2007 : Durant 2008 : Hansbrough 2009 : Griffin 2010 : Turner 2011 : Fredette 2012 : Davis 2013 : Burke 2014 : McDermott 2015 : Kaminsky 2016 : Valentine 2017 : Mason III 2018 : Brunson Adolph Rupp Trophy winners 1972 : Walton 1973 : Walton 1974 : Walton 1975 : Thompson 1976 : May 1977 : Johnson 1978 : Lee 1979 : Bird 1980 : Aguirre 1981 : Sampson 1982 : Sampson 1983 : Sampson 1984 : Jordan 1985 : Ewing 1986 : Berry 1987 : D. Robinson 1988 : Hawkins 1989 : Elliott 1990 : Simmons 1991 : O'Neal 1992 : Laettner 1993 : Cheaney 1994 : G. Robinson 1995 : Smith 1996 : Camby 1997 : Duncan 1998 : Jamison 1999 : Brand 2000 : Martin 2001 : Battier 2002 : Williams 2003 : West 2004 : Nelson 2005 : Redick 2006 : Redick 2007 : Durant 2008 : Hansbrough 2009 : Griffin 2010 : Wall 2011 : Fredette 2012 : Davis 2013 : Oladipo 2014 : McDermott 2015 : Kaminsky UPI College Basketball Player of the Year Award winners 1955 : Gola 1956 : B. Russell 1957 : Forte 1958 : Robertson 1959 : Robertson 1960 : Robertson 1961 : Lucas 1962 : Lucas 1963 : Heyman 1964 : Bradds 1965 : Bradley 1966 : C. Russell 1967 : Alcindor 1968 : Hayes 1969 : Alcindor 1970 : Maravich 1971 : Carr 1972 : Walton 1973 : Walton 1974 : Walton 1975 : Thompson 1976 : May 1977 : Johnson 1978 : Lee 1979 : Bird 1980 : Aguirre 1981 : Sampson 1982 : Sampson 1983 : Sampson 1984 : Jordan 1985 : Mullin 1986 : Berry 1987 : D. Robinson 1988 : Hawkins 1989 : Ferry 1990 : Simmons 1991 : O'Neal 1992 : Jackson 1993 : Cheaney 1994 : G. Robinson 1995 : Smith 1996 : Allen 1991 NCAA Men 's Basketball Consensus All - Americans First Team Kenny Anderson Jim Jackson Larry Johnson Shaquille O'Neal Billy Owens Second Team Stacey Augmon Keith Jennings Christian Laettner Eric Murdock Steve Smith 1992 NCAA Men 's Basketball Consensus All - Americans First Team Jim Jackson Christian Laettner Harold Miner Alonzo Mourning Shaquille O'Neal Second Team Byron Houston Don MacLean Anthony Peeler Malik Sealy Walt Williams NCAA Division I men 's basketball season blocks leaders 1986 : Robinson 1987 : Robinson 1988 : Blake 1989 : Mourning 1990 : Green 1991 : Bradley 1992 : O'Neal 1993 : Ratliff 1994 : Livingston 1995 : Closs 1996 : Closs 1997 : Foyle 1998 : J. James 1999 : Williams 2000 : Johnson 2001 : Williams 2002 : Myrda 2003 : Okafor 2004 : Ferguson 2005 : Gai 2006 : S. James 2007 : Gladness 2008 : Varnado 2009 : Varnado 2010 : Whiteside 2011 : Mosley 2012 : Davis 2013 : Obekpa 2014 : Bachynski 2015 : Mickey 2016 : Fernandez 2017 : Thomas 2018 : Penava NCAA Division I men 's basketball season rebounding leaders 1951 : Beck 1952 : Hannon 1953 : Conlin 1954 : Quimby 1955 : Slack 1956 : Holup 1957 : Baylor 1958 : Ellis 1959 : Wright 1960 : Wright 1961 : Lucas 1962 : Lucas 1963 : Silas 1964 : Pelkington 1965 : Kimball 1966 : Ware 1967 : Cunningham 1968 : Walk 1969 : Haywood 1970 : Gilmore 1971 : Gilmore 1972 : Washington 1973 : Washington 1974 : Barnes 1975 : Irving 1976 : Pellom 1977 : Mosley 1978 : K. Williams 1979 : Davis 1980 : Smith 1981 : Watson 1982 : Thompson 1983 : McDaniel 1984 : Olajuwon 1985 : McDaniel 1986 : Robinson 1987 : Lane 1988 : Miller 1989 : Gathers 1990 : Bonner 1991 : O'Neal 1992 : Jones 1993 : Kidd 1994 : Lambert 1995 : Thomas 1996 : Mann 1997 : Duncan 1998 : Perryman 1999 : McGinnis 2000 : Phillip 2001 : Marcus 2002 : Bishop 2003 : Hunter 2004 : Millsap 2005 : Millsap 2006 : Millsap 2007 : Jones - Jennings 2008 : Beasley 2009 : Griffin 2010 : Parakhouski 2011 : Faried 2012 : Anosike 2013 : Anosike 2014 : A. Williams 2015 : A. Williams 2016 : Mockevičius 2017 : Delgado 2018 : Cacok Southeastern Conference Men 's Basketball Player of the Year 1965 : Lee 1966 : Lee & Riley 1967 : Widby 1968 : Maravich 1969 : Maravich 1970 : Maravich 1971 : Neumann 1972 : Edwards & Parker 1973 : Grevey & Hudson 1974 : van Breda Kolff 1975 : Grevey & B. King 1976 : B. King 1977 : Grunfeld & B. King 1978 : R. King 1979 : R. King 1980 : Macy 1981 : Wilkins 1982 : Ellis 1983 : Ellis & Malone 1984 : Barkley 1985 : Walker 1986 : Walker 1987 : McKey & White 1988 : Perdue 1989 : Jackson 1990 : Jackson 1991 : O'Neal 1992 : O'Neal 1993 : Mashburn & McCaffrey 1994 : Williamson 1995 : Williamson 1996 : Delk 1997 : Mercer 1998 : Sesay 1999 : Porter 2000 : Langhi & Swift 2001 : Prince 2002 : Dudley 2003 : Bogans & Slay 2004 : Roberts 2005 : Bass 2006 : G. Davis 2007 : Byars & Lofton 2008 : Foster 2009 : Thornton 2010 : Wall 2011 : Parsons 2012 : A. Davis 2013 : Caldwell - Pope 2014 : Wilbekin 2015 : Portis 2016 : Ulis 2017 : Monk & Thornwell 2018 : Maten & Williams Southeastern Conference Athlete of the Year Male 1976 : Glance 1977 : Seivers 1978 : Givens 1979 : King 1980 : Macy 1981 : Gaines 1982 : Belue 1983 : Walker 1984 : Hoage 1985 : Clark 1986 : B. Jackson 1987 : Bennett 1988 : Perdue 1989 : D. Thomas 1990 : Kessler 1991 : O'Neal 1992 : O'Neal 1993 : Mashburn 1994 : Williamson 1995 : Helton 1996 : Wuerffel 1997 : Wuerffel 1998 : Manning 1999 : Couch 2000 : Bouknight 2001 : Boeker 2002 : W. Davis 2003 : Cragg 2004 : Cragg 2005 : Lochte 2006 : Carter 2007 : Price 2008 : Tebow 2009 : Tebow 2010 : Ingram 2011 : Smith 2012 : A. Davis 2013 : Manziel 2014 : Reed 2015 : Benintendi 2016 : Lawson 2017 : Rooker 2018 : Dressel Female 1984 : Caulkins 1985 : Hauschild 1986 : Gillom 1987 : Leatherwood 1988 : Torres 1989 : Gordon 1990 : Foster 1991 : Charles 1992 : Goetze 1993 : Haislett 1994 : Haislett 1995 : Hansen 1996 : Roundtree 1997 : Johnson 1998 : Holdsclaw 1999 : Holdsclaw 2000 : Kowal 2001 : Yoder 2002 : Pickens 2003 : L. Thomas 2004 : Rice 2005 : Coventry 2006 : Augustus 2007 : Abbott 2008 : Parker 2009 : Kupets 2010 : S. Jackson 2011 : Hoffman 2012 : Pancake 2013 : Schmitt 2014 : Rogers 2015 : Haeger 2016 : Sloan 2017 : Williams Orlando Magic Founded in 1989 Based in Orlando, Florida Franchise Franchise Summer League Expansion Draft All - time roster Draft history Records Seasons Current season Arenas Amway Arena Amway Center General managers Williams Gabriel Weisbrod Smith Hennigan Hammond G League affiliate Lakeland Magic Personnel Owners RDV Sports, Inc. ( Rich DeVos, owner & chairman ) CEO Alex Martins President Jeff Weltman General manager John Hammond Head coach Steve Clifford Current roster Retired numbers 6 Hall of Famers Chuck Daly Patrick Ewing Shaquille O'Neal Dominique Wilkins Conference Championships ( 2 ) 1995 2009 Division Championships ( 5 ) 1995 2008 2009 Culture and lore `` Get Ready for This '' ( 2 Unlimited song ) Paul Porter Stuff the Magic Dragon Media TV Fox Sports Florida Radio WDBO Announcers David Steele Jeff Turner Dennis Neumann Richie Adubato Los Angeles Lakers Founded in 1947 Played in Minneapolis ( 1947 -- 1960 ) Based in Los Angeles, California Franchise Franchise Team history All - time roster Draft history Records Head coaches Seasons Current season Arenas Minneapolis Auditorium Minneapolis Armory Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena The Forum Staples Center G League affiliate South Bay Lakers Administration Jeanie, Jim, and Johnny Buss ( majority owners ) Anschutz Entertainment Group ( minority owner ) Ed Roski Jr. ( minority owner ) Patrick Soon - Shiong ( minority owner ) Magic Johnson ( President of Basketball Operations ) Rob Pelinka ( General manager ) Luke Walton ( Head coach ) Retired numbers 8 13 22 24 25 32 33 34 42 44 52 Chick Hearn ( Microphone ) Minneapolis Lakers Hall of Famers Mikan Mikkelsen Martin Lovellette Pollard Coach Kundla NBA Championships ( 16 ) 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1972 1980 1982 1985 1988 2000 2001 2002 2009 Western Conference Championships ( 31 ) 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1959 1962 1963 1965 1966 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1980 1982 1984 1985 1988 1989 1991 2000 2001 2002 2008 2009 Rivalries Boston Celtics Detroit Pistons Los Angeles Clippers San Antonio Spurs Culture and lore Jack Kent Cooke Jerry Buss Showtime Chick Hearn Shaq -- Kobe feud Lawrence Tanter Jack Nicholson `` I Love L.A. '' Laker Girls Laker Band Dancing Barry Celtics / Lakers : Best of Enemies The Last Season : A Team in Search of Its Soul Media TV Spectrum SportsNet ( Los Angeles ) Radio 710 ESPN Radio 1330 ESPN Deportes Announcers Bill Macdonald Stu Lantz John Ireland Mychal Thompson Miami Heat Founded in 1988 Based in Miami, Florida Franchise Franchise Team history Expansion Draft All - time roster Draft history Seasons Records Broadcasters Head coaches Current season Arenas Miami Arena American Airlines Arena G League affiliates Florida Flame Arkansas RimRockers Albuquerque Thunderbirds Sioux Falls Skyforce General managers Schaffel Wohl Pfund Riley Elisburg NBA Championships ( 3 ) 2006 2012 2013 Eastern Conference Championships ( 5 ) 2006 2011 2012 2013 2014 Culture and lore Micky Arison Pat Riley Michael Baiamonte Burnie `` The Heat Is On '' ( Glenn Frey song ) Shaq The Decision The Big Three 27 in a row The Shot Retired numbers 10 23 32 33 Rivals Chicago Bulls New York Knicks Media TV Fox Sports Sun Radio 790 The Ticket Announcers Eric Reid Tony Fiorentino Jason Jackson Mike Inglis Phoenix Suns Founded in 1968 Based in Phoenix, Arizona Franchise Franchise Expansion Draft History Draft history All - time roster Players sorted by number Head coaches Seasons Records Current season Arenas Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Talking Stick Resort Arena General managers J. Colangelo B. Colangelo D'Antoni Kerr Blanks McDonough G League affiliate Northern Arizona Suns Culture & lore The Suns Gorilla The Shot ' Heard ' Round the World 07 Seconds or Less STAT The Matrix Sir Charles Nashty The Greyhound Thunder Dan Shazam Oklahoma Kid Original Sun Hawk Rivals San Antonio Spurs Ring of Honor & Retired numbers 5 6 7 9 13 24 33 34 42 44 Jerry Colangelo Cotton Fitzsimmons John MacLeod Al McCoy Joe Proski Hall of Famers Charles Barkley Jerry Colangelo Gail Goodrich Connie Hawkins Grant Hill ( To be inducted in September 2018 ) Dennis Johnson Gus Johnson Jason Kidd ( To be inducted in September 2018 ) Ann Meyers Steve Nash ( To be inducted in September 2018 ) Shaquille O'Neal Pat Riley Charlie Scott ( To be inducted in September 2018 ) Rick Welts ( To be inducted in September 2018 ) Key personnel Owner Robert Sarver President Jason Rowley General manager Ryan McDonough Head coach Igor Kokoškov Western Conference Championships ( 2 ) 1976 1993 Pacific Division Championships ( 6 ) 1981 1993 1995 2005 2006 2007 Media TV FS Arizona Radio Arizona Sports Announcers Tom Leander Tom Chambers Kevin Ray Eddie Johnson Al McCoy Tim Kempton Ann Meyers Casey Jacobsen Jon Bloom McDonald 's All - American Game -- Boys ' MVPs 1979 : Daye 1980 : Cross 1981 : Branch & Sherrod 1982 : Winters 1983 : Bennett 1984 : Williams 1985 : Lambiotte 1986 : Reid 1987 : Macon 1988 : Mourning & Owens 1989 : Hurley & O'Neal 1990 : Bradley 1991 : Webber & Brunson 1992 : Harrington 1993 : Vaughn & Stackhouse 1994 : López 1995 : Garnett 1996 : Holloway 1997 : Gregory 1998 : R. Curry 1999 : Bender 2000 : Randolph 2001 : E. Curry 2002 : Redick 2003 : James 2004 : Howard & Smith 2005 : McRoberts 2006 : Budinger & Durant 2007 : Beasley 2008 : Evans 2009 : Favors 2010 : Barnes & Sullinger 2011 : Gilchrist & McAdoo 2012 : Muhammad 2013 : Gordon 2014 : Ju. Jackson & Okafor 2015 : Diallo 2016 : F. Jackson & Jo. Jackson 2017 : Porter 2018 : Little NBA on TNT Related programs Inside the NBA Shaqtin ' a Fool NBA on TBS NBA All - Star Weekend NCAA Men 's Division I Basketball Championship commentators Related articles Ratings NBA TV NBA 07 Commentators Play - by - play Marv Albert Brian Anderson Gary Bender Tim Brando Mike Breen Kevin Calabro Skip Caray Matt Devlin Jim Durham Kevin Harlan Jim Huber Verne Lundquist Bob Neal Mel Proctor Dick Stockton Pete Van Wieren Color commentators Danny Ainge Brent Barry Rick Barry Hubie Brown P.J. Carlesimo Rex Chapman Doug Collins Chuck Daly Mike Dunleavy Sr. Mike Fratello Jack Givens Grant Hill Steve Kerr Kevin McHale Reggie Miller Doc Rivers Steve Smith John Thompson Jeff Van Gundy Dick Versace Chris Webber Sideline reporters David Aldridge Rosalyn Gold - Onwude Lewis Johnson Allie LaForce Kristen Ledlow Cheryl Miller Pam Oliver Craig Sager Marty Snider Tracy Wolfson Studio hosts Vince Cellini Marc Fein Ernie Johnson Jr. Bob Lorenz Casey Stern Matt Winer Studio analysts Charles Barkley Magic Johnson Lisa Leslie Kevin McHale Shaquille O'Neal Gary Payton Kenny Smith Reggie Theus Isiah Thomas NBA Drafts 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 All - Star Game 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 NBA Awards 2017 2018 Lore Music Christmas Day NBA outdoor games Disputed foul against Scottie Pippen Members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Players Guards R. Allen Archibald Beckman Belov Bing Blazejowski Borgmann Brennan Cervi Cheeks Clayton Cooper - Dyke Cousy Dampier Davies Drexler Dumars Edwards Frazier Friedman Galis Gervin Goodrich Greer Guerin Hanson Haynes Holman Hyatt Isaacs Iverson Jeannette D. Johnson E. Johnson K. Jones S. Jones Jordan Kidd Lieberman Maravich Marcari Marčiulionis Martin McDermott McGrady D. McGuire Meyers R. Miller Monroe C. Murphy Nash Page Payton Petrović Phillip Posey Richmond Robertson Rodgers Roosma J. Russell Schommer Scott Sedran Sharman K. Smith Staley Steinmetz Stockton Swoopes Thomas Thompson Vandivier Wanzer West J. White Wilkens Woodard Wooden Forwards Arizin Barkley Barry Baylor Bird Bradley R. Brown Cunningham Curry Dalipagić Dantley DeBusschere Dehnert Endacott English Erving Foster Fulks Gale Gates Gola Hagan Havlicek Hawkins Hayes Haywood Heinsohn Hill Howell G. Johnson King Lucas Luisetti K. Malone McClain B. McCracken J. McCracken McGinnis McHale Mikkelsen C. Miller Mullin Pettit Pippen Pollard Radja Ramsey Rodman Schayes E. Schmidt O. Schmidt Stokes C. Thompson T. Thompson Twyman Walker Washington N. White Wilkes Wilkins Worthy Yardley Centers Abdul - Jabbar Barlow Beaty Bellamy Chamberlain Ćosić Cowens Crawford Daniels DeBernardi Donovan Ewing Gallatin Gilmore Gruenig Harris - Stewart Houbregs Issel W. Johnson Johnston M. Krause Kurland Lanier Leslie Lovellette Lapchick Macauley M. Malone McAdoo Meneghin Mikan Mourning S. Murphy Mutombo Olajuwon O'Neal Parish Pereira Reed Risen Robinson B. Russell Sabonis Sampson Semjonova Thurmond Unseld Wachter Walton Yao Coaches Alexeeva P. Allen Anderson Auerbach Auriemma Barmore Barry Blood Boeheim L. Brown Calhoun Calipari Cann Carlson Carnesecca Carnevale Carril Case Chancellor Chaney Conradt Crum Daly Dean Díaz - Miguel Diddle Drake Driesell Ferrándiz Gaines Gamba Gardner Gaze Gill Gomelsky Gunter Hannum Harshman Haskins Hatchell Heinsohn Hickey Hobson Holzman Hughes Hurley Iba Izzo P. Jackson Julian Keaney Keogan Knight Krzyzewski Kundla Lambert Leonard Lewis Litwack Loeffler Lonborg Magee McCutchan McGraw A. McGuire F. McGuire McLendon Meanwell Meyer Miller Moore Nelson Nikolić Novosel Olson Pitino Ramsay Richardson Riley Rubini Rupp Rush Sachs Self Sharman Shelton Sloan D. Smith Stringer Summitt Tarkanian Taylor Teague J. Thompson VanDerveer Wade Watts Wilkens G. Williams R. Williams Wooden Woolpert Wootten Yow Contributors Abbott Barksdale Bee Biasone H. Brown W. Brown Bunn Buss Clifton Colangelo Cooper Davidson Douglas Duer Embry Fagan Fisher Fleisher Gavitt Gottlieb Granik Gulick Harrison Hearn Henderson Hepp Hickox Hinkle Irish M. Jackson Jernstedt Jones Kennedy Knight J. Krause Lemon Liston Lloyd McLendon Lobo Mokray Morgan Morgenweck Naismith Newell Newton J. O'Brien L. O'Brien Olsen Podoloff Porter Raveling Reid Reinsdorf Ripley Sanders Saperstein Schabinger St. John Stagg Stanković Steitz Stern Taylor Thorn Tower Trester Vitale Wells Welts Wilke Winter Zollner Referees Bavetta Enright Garretson Hepbron Hoyt Kennedy Leith Mihalik Nichols Nucatola Quigley Rudolph Shirley Strom Tobey Walsh Teams 1960 United States Olympic Team 1992 United States Olympic Team All - American Red Heads Buffalo Germans The First Team Harlem Globetrotters Immaculata College New York Renaissance Original Celtics Texas Western Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016 Players Zelmo Beaty Allen Iverson Shaquille O'Neal Cumberland Posey Sheryl Swoopes Yao Ming Coaches Tom Izzo John McLendon Referees Darell Garretson Contributors Jerry Reinsdorf FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Coaches ( 22 ) Alexeyeva Canavesi Díaz - Miguel Donohue Ferrándiz A. Gomelsky E. Gomelsky Gaze Iba Ivković Kondrashin Newell Nikolić Novosel Primo Rubini Smith Soares Stirling Summitt Yow Žeravica Contributors ( 35 ) Airaldi Rivarola Ashry Atakol Bouffard Busnel Calvo Carneiro Dos Reis Greim Hepp Jones Killian Klieger Kozlowski López Martín Naismith Otto Pitzl Popović Ramsay Samaranch Šaper Saporta Scuri Seguro de Luna Semashko Seye Moreau Stanković Steitz Stern Ueda Vitale Wahby Yoon Players ( 55 ) A. Belov S. Belov Berkovich Cameron Chazalon Ćosić Cruz Dalipagić Daneu Delibašić Divac Donovan Edwards Epi Fasoulas Furlong Galis Gaze Gonçalves González Herrera Jean - Jacques Jordan Kićanović Korać Kukoč Maciel Marcari Marčiulionis Martín Marzorati Meneghin Meyers Miller Mujanović Olajuwon O'Neal Pasos Petrović Raga Rigaudeau Robertson Robinson Rodríguez Ronchetti Russell Sabonis Schmidt Semjonova Slavnić Timms Tkachenko Valters Voynova Zasulskaya Teams ( 1 ) 1992 United States Olympic Team ( `` The Dream Team '' ) Technical officials ( 14 ) Arabadjian Bain Belošević Blanchard Dimou Hopenhaym Kassai Kostin Lazarov Pfeuti Rae Reverberi Rigas Righetto BNE : XX1361012 BNF : cb13972273t ( data ) GND : 134909666 ISNI : 0000 0000 7366 6496 LCCN : n93034386 MusicBrainz : 074d8126 - 20b8 - 47cd - b874 - 9d8457df7684 VIAF : 66658782 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shaquille_O%27Neal&oldid=856990293 '' Categories : Shaquille O'Neal 1972 births Living people 20th - century American businesspeople 20th - century American male actors 20th - century American musicians 21st - century American businesspeople 21st - century American male actors 21st - century American musicians A&M Records artists African - American basketball players African - American investors American investors African - American male actors African - American male rappers African - American mixed martial artists African - American television personalities All - American college men 's basketball players American jujutsuka American male film actors American Muay Thai practitioners American municipal police officers American podcasters American real estate businesspeople American stock traders Barry University alumni Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball players from New Jersey Basketball players from Texas Boston Celtics players Businesspeople from New Jersey Businesspeople from Texas Businesspeople in technology Centers ( basketball ) Cleveland Cavaliers players East Coast hip hop musicians ESports people FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Interscope Records artists Los Angeles Lakers players LSU Tigers basketball players Male actors from Newark, New Jersey Male actors from Texas McDonald 's High School All - Americans Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Miami Heat players Military brats National Basketball Association All - Stars National Basketball Association broadcasters National Basketball Association players with retired numbers National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees New York Film Academy alumni Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Orlando Magic draft picks Orlando Magic players Parade High School All - Americans ( boys ' basketball ) Participants in American reality television series Phoenix Suns players Rappers from New Jersey Rappers from Texas Sacramento Kings owners Sportspeople from Newark, New Jersey Sportspeople from San Antonio United States men 's national basketball team players American men 's basketball players University of Phoenix alumni American actor - athletes Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from September 2016 Articles with permanently dead external links CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter Articles with dead external links from January 2012 Articles with dead external links from March 2018 Articles with dead external links from August 2017 Wikipedia indefinitely move - protected pages Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected biographies of living people All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from June 2010 Articles with hCards Articles with unsourced statements from June 2011 Use mdy dates from May 2017 Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk View source Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote تۆرکجه বাংলা Bân - lâm - gú Беларуская Български Bosanski Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Ido Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית ქართული Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Magyar Македонски Malagasy Монгол Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Runa Simi Русский Scots Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська Volapük 中文 48 more Edit links This page was last edited on 28 August 2018, at 20 : 52 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when did shaq first go to the finals
Answer: 1995 NBA Playoffs