Jumping off ‘LeBron James GOAT Train’, Shaquille O’Neal Uses ‘22 Points per Game’ Stat-Line to Push the Michael Jordan Agenda

Reaching the NBA Finals is a tough task to achieve and the NBA playoffs every year provide ample testimony to that. Bill Russell leads the list of NBA players with 12 Finals appearances. While LeBron James is tied for the third spot with 10 Finals appearances, Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan have made six trips to the ultimate stage. Shaq recently shared an interesting NBA Finals fact that swings the GOAT debate in Jordan’s favor, suggesting that the former has jumped off the ‘LBJ GOAT train’.

Even though Shaquille O’Neal hasn’t made an explicit GOAT pick in recent years, the Los Angeles Lakers legend has often raved about LBJ gaining grounds in the conversation after breaking Kareem’s scoring record earlier this year. In fact, after the Lakers had won the 2020 Bubble Championship, O’Neal claimed that LeBron could put the GOAT debate to rest after tying Michael Jordan with six titles. Since then, the TNT analyst has been neutral on the contentious argument.

Shaq shares intriguing NBA Finals stat for Michael Jordan and LeBron James

Shaq frequently shares various interesting facts on his Instagram stories to educate and entertain his followers on hoops trivia. The Big Aristotle’s latest Instagram story spree also contained a graphic with an NBA Finals-related stat. sports_fluent’s Instagram post displayed some of the greatest NBA players ever and the number of times their teammate(s) averaged 22+ points per game in the Finals. Take a look at Shaq’s story on NBA Celeb Update’s tweet.

Bill Russell led the list with 14 such instances, followed by Magic Johnson with seven. Unsurprisingly, LeBron James is tied with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the third position on the list with six such instances. The likes of Dwyane Wade and Kyrie Irving have averaged 22+ PPG on the big stage before, and Anthony Davis averaged 25 PPG during the 2020 Finals.

Only two players on the list had no teammates who ever averaged 22 PPG in the Finals–Hakeem Olajuwon and Michael Jordan. To put it into perspective, Olajuwon merely made three Finals appearances. Whereas, Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six Championship wins without receiving as much help on the offensive end. This definitely puts the GOAT debate in an interesting light.

Shaquille O’Neal has had 4 instances when his teammates have averaged 22+ PPG in the Finals

Even though Shaq has won three Finals Most Valuable Player awards, he has had teammates averaging 22+ PPG in four of his six Finals appearances. Back in 1995, during his first-ever Finals appearance, Anfernee Hardaway averaged 25.5 points per game. Later down the line, Kobe Bryant had two (2001 & 2002) 22+ PPG series in the Finals. Finally, Dwyane Wade lodged a staggering 34.7 PPG during the 2006 NBA Finals.

Nevertheless, Shaq or anyone else’s contributions on this list must not be discredited for having teammates who made vital contributions.