Shaquille O’Neal is widely seen as the most dominant player ever. In the ‘Old Man and the Three’ podcast, Richard Jefferson, a former NBA champion, shared a story from the 2002 Finals. Shaq threatened to break Jefferson’s wrist if he attempted to block his dunk. Despite this intimidation, Jefferson admired Shaq’s exceptional performance during the Finals. The Big Diesel led the Lakers to a three-peat with astounding numbers.
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Shaq has always preferred being called the most dominant ever, rejecting the ‘Greatest of All Time’ title. His peers and future generations firmly support his claim. Kobe Bryant, Shaq’s former teammate and Laker Legend, also praised Shaq for his display of power on the court.
Shaquille O’Neal was on the verge of ending Richard Jefferson’s career early
Shaq conquered numerous adversaries in the past with dominant victories while leading the Lakers to a three-peat. One of the overwhelmed teams was Richard Jefferson’s New Jersey Nets. On the ‘Old Man and The Three’ podcast, Richard Jefferson recounted a story where Shaq threatened to break his wrist.
“Like there’s times where he’s going up for a dunk and you just do a flyby and you hit his wrist and he’s like ‘Watch out little fella, I’ll break your wrist next time,’ and you’re just sitting here like. If my hand was in between the rim and he was trying to dunk it, he would break my f****ing wrist, that’s not a lie and there’s no other player that I can think of in recent history that has that type of strength and power.”
A seven-foot, 365 lbs player dunking the rim with all his power would scare anyone blocking. Jefferson stated that Shaq’s dominance necessitated rule changes.
“He changed the f****ng equipments. Backboards were getting broken. Like when people talk about Steph changing the game, true, I think there’s a lot of players o change the game including Shaquille O’Neal. They literally had to change the physical equipment because they had never seen womeone with that level of strength before. That’s changing the game!”
Jefferson praised Shaq and believed no one in recent history could compare to him.
“He has been the most dominant player in the history of the game of basketball period. Not LeBron, not Steph. Not Magic, MJ. Like Shaq physically was the most dominant player we have ever seen like maybe we’ll ever see because of his sheer size, atheleticism, skill, footwork, hands everything, there was no guarding him”
Kobe Bryant Dubs Shaq ‘The Most Dominant Ever’
Shaquille O’Neal shared the stage with many NBA Greats. Most of them had positive things to say about his career. Even Kobe Bryant, who had a beef with Shaq for much of their careers, proclaimed him the most dominant ever.
The Black Mamba’s seal of approval leaves no room for argument. Shaq’s rim-breaking records and NBA championships make him unforgettable as the ‘Most Dominant’ for present and future generations.
