Comparison became the theft of joy for Shaquille O’Neal as it undermined the greatness of the NBA center in his initial years. Back then, reporters highlighted his lack of rings to undercut his excellence compared to Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It led to the New Jersey-born hating journalists as he candidly confessed in 2011 in his autobiography, Shaq Uncut.
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His hardship to win championships with the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers during his early NBA phase raised question marks over his ability. He shed light on that period, mentioning, “Before I won my championships, people talked about me as one of the great
centers in the game, but some reporter would always say, ‘You can’t compare him to Bill Russell or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because he hasn’t won yet'”.
At first, it resulted in frustration for the 7ft 1″ icon but over time, it changed his entire perspective as a team leader. “I hated hearing that. Just hated it. But the more you hear it, the more you realize you are the CEO, and if you win you’ll get all the credit and if you lose it’s all your fault,” Shaq stated highlighting his evolution as a franchise face.
Thus, the 1993 ROTY transformed his actions on the court with time as he became determined to display his dominance. He wanted to become the center of attention during games, as he revealed, “So you want to know why I flexed my muscles during my time in the NBA Because if it’s going to be my fault when we lose, then we’re doing things my way”.
It wonderfully captured the development of Diesel in the NBA as it took him eight whole years to win his first ring. During those years of failure, the NBA community expressed doubts over his capability to match the status of 11x winner Russell and 6x champion Abdul-Jabbar. They had already established their status as one of a kind in the league’s history with their impact on the court.
So, the challenge was always a considerable one for the Big Aristotle but he stuck to the process anyhow. Eventually, enduring the criticisms in the seasons leading up to his first championship made him a tough competitor. Later, the 2000 MVP won three more championships while breaking multiple individual records to become at par with the greats. Interestingly, in that process, he did things his way, cementing his place as one of the most dominant players of all time.
How the doubters became the admirers of Shaquille O’Neal
As the concerns only increased over the capability of O’Neal one of his idols, Abdul-Jabbar, made it even worse. Shaq once reflected on that period in 2011 shedding light on how the 7ft 2″ center had also aligned himself with the NBA reporters. “If you said Shaq’s putting up Kareem-type numbers, Kareem said ‘How? He’s not winning championships’. Now I’m like okay. Now I’m fucking pissed,” he mentioned.
So, the comments around his championship-less years motivated him to conquer the league as Abdul-Jabbar changed his stance. “You showed what you were all about the way you crushed all the centers in the league for a couple of years there. So I’m on your side Shaq, don’t ever let anybody tell you anything different,” he publicly stated last year.
Thus, Shaq had the last laugh as his campaigns of ring-chasing only made him better. The defeat in the 1995 NBA Finals also might have played its part in better positioning him to win a championship later in his year. Alongside these, the noises from the outside undoubtedly played the biggest role as the 15x All-Star became determined to prove his doubters wrong. Looking back, it’s fair to say that the 4x champion has succeeded in his attempts.
