Shaquille O'Neal

**Shaquille Rashaun "Shaq" O'Neal** (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American retired professional basketball player. He had a 19 year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. He is often considered one of the greatest and well-known players in the history of the NBA. He stands at  and weighs , making him one of the heaviest players to ever play in the NBA. He has recently gotten his jersey retired by the Orlando Magic, making him one of the only players to have 3 jerseys retired.

## Basketball career

Before playing in the NBA, O'Neal played college basketball at Louisiana State University.  Throughout his 18 year career, O'Neal has used his size and strength to help him play well. O'Neal won a scoring title, an MVP and three championships with the Los Angeles Lakers; he later won a championship with the Miami Heat. He first played for the Orlando Magic and later for the Phoenix Suns. O'Neal won a gold medal with the 1996 Dream Team. O'Neal is currently the oldest player in the NBA and is the only one of the 50 Greatest NBA players, as chosen in 1996, to still be playing in the NBA. He has scored the most points of anyone still in the NBA, and the fifth-most of any NBA player ever.  He also one of the best shooters in the history of the NBA, and has led the league in that category ten times.  He has been named All-NBA and an All-Star quite a few times. He retired from the NBA on June 1, 2011 and held a press conference on June 3, 2011 to officially announce his retirement. After Shaq's college career he had 1 child.

## Music, TV and movie career

O'Neal has appeared in several films and music videos, often as himself. As an actor, O'Neal starred in several films such as Blue Chips, Kazaam and Steel.

As a rapper, he released five studio albums and 1 compilation album. His first album, _Shaq Diesel_, was released in 1993. It received platinum certification from the RIAA. He rapped on the song "2 Bad" on Michael Jackson's album _HIStory_. He later performed three songs on the Kazaam soundtrack. O'Neal also rapped on Aaron Carter's 2001 hit single "That's How I Beat Shaq".

He has hosted two TV shows, one where he helps kids lose weight and another where he competes against athletes from other sports. He is currently studio analyst for ESPN's show Inside the NBA.

## Personal life

O'Neal is a Muslim.

## Other websites

- Profile on Cavaliers official website

## Infobox (basketball biography)

- **name**: Shaquille O'Neal
- **image**: TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 - Day 1 (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: O'Neal in 2023
- **birth place**: Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
- **height**: 216 cm
- **weight**: 147 kg
- **nationality**: American
- **high school**: *  (Fulda, Fulda, Germany)
* Robert G. Cole Junior-Senior High School, Robert G. Cole (San Antonio, Texas)
- **college**: LSU Tigers basketball, LSU (1989–1992)
- **draft year**: 1992
- **draft round**: 1
- **draft pick**: 1
- **draft team**: Orlando Magic
- **draft league**: NBA
- **career start**: 1992
- **career end**: 2011
- **career position**: Center (basketball), Center
- **career number**: 32, 34, 33, 36
- **years1**: –
- **team1**: Orlando Magic
- **years2**: –
- **team2**: Los Angeles Lakers
- **years3**: –
- **team3**: Miami Heat
- **years4**: –
- **team4**: Phoenix Suns
- **team5**: Cleveland Cavaliers
- **team6**: Boston Celtics
- **highlights**: * 4× NBA champion (–, )
* 3× Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award, NBA Finals MVP (–)
* NBA Most Valuable Player Award, NBA Most Valuable Player ()
* 15× NBA All-Star (–, –, )
* 3× NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, NBA All-Star Game MVP (, , )
* 8× All-NBA First Team (, –)
* 2× All-NBA Second Team (, )
* 4× All-NBA Third Team (, , , )
* 3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (, , )
* NBA Rookie of the Year Award, NBA Rookie of the Year ()
* NBA All-Rookie First Team ()
* 2× NBA annual scoring champion, NBA scoring champion (, )
* 2× IBM Award (, )
* NBA anniversary team (50 Greatest Players in NBA History, 50th, NBA 75th Anniversary Team, 75th)
* No. 34 Los Angeles Lakers#Retired numbers, retired by Los Angeles Lakers
* No. 32 Miami Heat#Retired numbers, retired by Miami Heat
* No. 32 Orlando Magic#Retired numbers, retired by the Orlando Magic
* Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year, Associated Press Player of the Year (1991)
* UPI College Basketball Player of the Year, UPI Player of the Year (1991)
* Adolph Rupp Trophy (1991)
* 2× Consensus first-team NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, All-American (1991 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, 1991, 1992 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, 1992)
* 2× Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year, SEC Player of the Year (1991, 1992)
* List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season blocks leaders, NCAA blocks leader. (1992)
* List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders, NCAA rebounding leader (1991)
* No. 33 LSU Tigers basketball#Retired numbers, retired by LSU Tigers
* FIBA Basketball World Cup Most Valuable Player, FIBA World Championship MVP (1994 FIBA World Championship, 1994)
* USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (1994)
* McDonald's All-American Game, McDonald's All-American Game Co-MVP (1989 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, 1989)
* First-team Parade All-America Boys Basketball Team, _Parade_ All-American (1989)
* Texas Mr. Basketball (1989)
- **stat1label**: Point (basketball), Points
- **stat1value**: 28,596 (23.7 ppg)
- **stat2label**: Rebound (basketball), Rebounds
- **stat2value**: 13,099 (10.9 rpg)
- **stat3label**: Block (basketball), Blocks
- **stat3value**: 2,732 (2.3 bpg)
- **hof player**: shaquille-oneal
- **fiba hof player**: Shaquille-O-Neal
- **cbbaskhof year**: 2014
- **weight lb**: 324
- **weight kg**: 147