“Shaq made the All-Time Top 50 team at just 23 years old?”: How the Lakers legend put his name up with the likes of Michael Jordan and Larry Bird at such a young age

Shaq was named a top 50 player of all time back in 1997 for the NBA’s 50th anniversary at merely 23 years of age. 

The way Shaq played even before making it to the NBA let everybody know that he was going to give Wilt Chamberlain a run for his money for the title of ‘Most Dominant Ever’. In fact, given just how good O’Neal was at giving people nicknames, he actually gave himself the nickname ‘M.D.E’, which is an acronym for, well, you know. 

After showing up and showing out at LSU with collegiate career averages of 21.6 points and 13.5 rebounds on 61% 2-point shooting, Shaq was drafted 1st overall by the Orlando Magic in 1992. 

In 5 short years that spanned from getting drafted to the 1997 50th NBA Anniversary, Shaquille O’Neal was a 5x All-Star, 4x All-NBA player, and had won the Eastern Conference championship. He did this all while putting up absurd averages in points, rebounds, and blocks.

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Before even turning 24 years old, ‘The Big Aristotle’ was bestowed with an honor that only 49 other people at the time had the luxury of claiming. 

Shaq was only 23 years old when he was named to the top 50 in NBA history. 

February 1997, Cleveland, was when and where the celebrations for Top 50 all-time players were held. Guys like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, and many were in attendance as they understood how monumental of an occasion it was. Shaq however, was not present. 

Being the youngest member of the bunch, it makes more sense for O’Neal to do everything he could to attend. Many people at the time questioned both his absence from the event, scrutinizing him, and his presence on the list in the first place.

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As for his absence from the festivities, the Los Angeles Lakers released a statement that said doctors advised him to not travel city to city to avoid putting any extra pressure on an injured knee. 

When it comes to him being named to the list without ever winning a championship and only being two years removed from being able to legally drink alcohol, it’s honestly a toss up. While it was extremely clear that Shaq was destined for all-time great level of success, all he had were individual accolades at the time. 

Only two other players have been named to an anniversary team before turning 30 and those are Giannis and Anthony Davis who were recently named to the NBA75 list.