NBA Reddit brings up Shaquille O’Neal’s stats between 2000-02 NBA Finals and they are atrocious to say the least

Akash Murty | 09/08/2022
NBA Reddit brings up Shaquille O'Neal’s stats between 2000-02 NBA Finals and they are atrocious to say the least

Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most dominant players of all time, but what he did in the Finals from 2000 to 02′, was beyond dominance.

In 1996, when Shaquille O’Neal decided to take his talents from the Magic to the Lakers, it had more to do than just the salary and playing in LA.

After getting swept in 95’ Finals at the hands of Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets and again a clean house against Michael Jordan-led Bulls in 96’ Eastern Conference Finals people doubted O’Neal for only being a greedy stat stuffer who cannot lead a team to the championship.

As soon as he came to the Lakers and paired up with a young Kobe Bryant everyone, at least in that camp, knew what they would be bringing to the NBA and that it would not be pretty at all.

Although it took Shaq and Co. 3 years before they reached an NBA Finals when they did reach, O’Neal decided it was time to be his best self and bulldoze everyone on his way through not just one, or two, but three straight Finals.

Also read: Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls never lost 3 games in a row from 1990 to 1998, proving his dominance greater than Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain

 

Shaquille O’Neal of the 2000-02 Finals was the ultimate cheat code

Phil Jackson had cheat codes in all of his 11 championships as a coach, which the opposition had no answer to. First, it was Michael Jordan for his first two three-peats, then it was The Diesel for his third three-peat and The Black Mamba for his last two.

Among them, O’Neal was the one who literally seemed unreal for what he did in those Finals. It truly looked like Wilt Chamberlain has come back and is playing in his regular-season mode.

The man turned myth had an average of 35.9 points, 15.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.9 blocks per game if we combine the 3-years performance in Finals from 2000 to 2002 which obviously ended up with him grabbing 3 straight Finals MVPs.

From clean sweeps in the playoffs to cleaning house with Finals MVPs for three years, O’Neal really shut the critiques up for good and proved himself to be one of the most dominant players to ever set foot on the hardwood.

Also read: $200M Russell Westbrook doesn’t watch the film, unlike LeBron James and it shows in his game

 

 

 

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
Finals MVP LA Lakers Lakers 3-peat Shaquille O'Neal

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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