“Hakeem Olajuwon, I Can’t Kill You, But I want to Catch Up to You One Day”: Shaquille O’Neal Gives Fomer Big Men Their Flowers
When we mention the greatest centers of all time, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal, and a few more names come to mind.
That’s not in any particular order. But when we say ‘the most dominant bigs of all time’ a few names from most people’s lists will be cut off and Shaq, Hakeem, and Wilt will remain at the top.
Call it recency bias but O’Neal has proven himself to be more dominant than most big men on the NBA’s 75-greatest players list despite his lacking defensive abilities compared to the likes of Russell, Wilt Kareem, Hakeem, Robinson, and many more.
But the Lakers legend never forgets to give flowers to the players that came before him even after a decade later to his retirement from the game.
Shaquille O’Neal reveals how he went about his business of playing against his idols like Hakeem Olajuwon
On a recent TNT show, talking about how much he appreciated Devin Booker trash-talking his idol Klay Thompson when he got the chance, Shaq, as usual, took a leaf out of his own book of greatness and started talking about how he went about dealing with the likes of Hakeem, Robinson, and Ewing when he was a young guy himself.
“I love David Robinson, but I gotta go at you. I love you Mr. Patrick Ewing but I gotta kill you. Hakeem, I love you, I can’t kill, but I want to catch up to you one day.”
And boy, did he not catch up to them in the most dominant as well as entertaining fashion? The 4x NBA Champ and 3x Finals MVP is now well into his retirement and making a lot more money as an analyst for TNT than he made from playing basketball.
Yet never a day passes by where he, be it in a self-praising way, pays his respect to the legends of the game for teaching him something.
How O’Neal transcended to the heights of all-time dominant players
The 7’1, 300-pound of sheer muscle came into the league in 1992 as the #1 overall pick for the Orlando Magic and immediately started treating the greats of the game like they were rag dolls.
His childhood idol Hakeem Olajuwon was among the best players who would win all the possible awards in the league in 1994 and 95 while winning the championships as well.
Seeing him doing it for the Houston Rockets and David Robinson with the Spurs, O’Neal knew he would need a team with a winning culture which he found in LA, thanks to his dispute with Penny Hardaway.
In his 8-year stay with the Lakers Shaq would win 3 championships, 3x Finals MVPs, and several All-Star and All-NBA appearances while eating big men for dinner and lunch.
He played 19 years in the league, finishing with 4 championships, 15x All-Star appearances, and one of the most decorated NBA careers of all time.
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