Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan have been two of the most dominant players in the NBA from their very first year in the league. Both of them earned the Rookie of The Year award, averaging incredible numbers in their first year. Shaq recently shared on social media the list of the top eight rookie scorers in the league’s history, which featured the rookie stats of both these athletes.
Advertisement
The list also had other big names like “The Answer” Allen Iverson, and “The Admiral” David Robinson, among others. Although Shaq is in the seventh spot on the list, his dominance in the league in his rookie year had pretty much stunned the NBA.
Shaq puts up the greatest rookie scoring numbers pic.twitter.com/CKT2wDNimC
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) June 27, 2023
By the time Shaq completed a year in the league in 1993, he was averaging 23.4 points. On the other hand, Michael Jordan tallied the most points (28.2) in NBA history as a rookie.
David Robinson, Walter Davis, and Bernard King closely followed MJ on the list, each with a little over 24 points as their average. On the other hand, AI had an average of 23.5 and Ron Harper tallied 22.9 points in his rookie year.
Shaquille O’Neal gives a glimpse of the Devastation his duo with Michael Jordan would have caused in the league
Over the years, the league has seen duos and trios who have completely dominated their opponents on the basketball court. From Magic and Kareem and Shaq and Kobe to Jordan-Pippen, the list is long. However, they were still beatable.
But Shaq recently posted an Instagram story and showed how unfair and devastating it would have been for the league had he teamed up with Jordan.
Perhaps it would have been unfair, perhaps it would have been devastating for the league, or perhaps it would have been a dream come true for many. To watch the most dominant force with the greatest ever is only possible in fantasy basketball.