Shaquille O’Neal has always discounted himself from the GOAT debate. Instead, he has made it clear that he is only interested in the ‘Most Dominant Player Ever’ category. However, the four-time NBA champion still should be pretty high up the totem pole on the All-Time list of NBA players. ESPN seemed to disagree.
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Shaq uses Instagram to share his unfiltered opinions on burning subjects that can trigger heated debates. He recently shared an ESPN list of the top 10 NBA players of all time on his IG stories, which had the usual suspects, including the former Los Angeles Lakers superstar. However, he was ranked 10th, at the very bottom of the hierarchy.
While O’Neal did not write that he disagreed with his ranking on the list, he seemed to imply so tacitly. The three-time Finals MVP has never shied away from boasting about his greatness on the basketball court. In an interview with Relevo, he once said,
“I won four rings and was Finals MVP three times. People can say what they want, but I always came to play when it mattered most. I am the most dominant player to ever step on a basketball court. I haven’t seen anyone yet who I thought could stop me.”
O’Neal is spot on. He’s one of only five players with three or more Finals MVP awards. He was the centerpiece of the last team in the NBA to win three NBA titles in a row. Apart from his other accolades, the Diesel is also a four-time NBA Champion.
While all top 10 lists are subjective, the Los Angeles Lakers icon should easily rank higher than tenth on the list of greatest NBA players. The placement of players like Wilt Chamberlain, who is Shaq’s chief adversary in the ‘Most Dominant Player’ debate, is bound to irk Shaq fans. Other players like Larry Bird and Tim Duncan also found themselves ahead of Shaq on the list.
Shaquille O’Neal defends Kobe Bryant’s greatness
Another player who was ranked too low on the list is Kobe Bryant (9th). Only a few players could pit their resumes against the five-time NBA champion and two-time Finals MVP.
Bryant is fourth all-time on the NBA’s all-time scorers’ list, trailing LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Karl Malone. He’s a five-time NBA champion and is one of only six players to win back-to-back Finals MVP. Bryant is one of only five players alongside James, Kareem, Malone, and Michael Jordan to finish their career with at least 30,000 points, 5,000 assists, and 5,000 rebounds.
Kobe was an offensive juggernaut, but he was an incredible defender as well. He is among four players with nine first-team All-Defensive selections in NBA history. His 12 All-Defensive selections are the most for any guard in NBA history. Bryant’s 18 All-Star appearances rank third all-time behind James (20) and Kareem (19), and his four All-Star Game MVP wins are the most for a player alongside Bob Pettit.
Bryant’s resume warrants a place higher than ninth on the all-time rankings. O’Neal’s admission suggests he should be ranked as high as fifth. After the Lakers retired Bryant’s #8 and #24 jersey, the Hall of Famer had said,
“Number one, [he is] the greatest Laker player ever. It was amazing that he played with one franchise for 20 years. Did it his way. Accomplished everything he set out to accomplish…but to be the greatest Laker ever, I think that’s an amazing accomplishment.”
Magic Johnson, who spent his entire career with the Lakers, is fifth on the ESPN list. If O’Neal ranks Bryant as the greatest Laker ever, then that means he believes Kobe should be higher than the legendary point guard on the all-time list.
Bryant and O’Neal’s resumes are ludicrously stacked. Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only two players with better careers than the Lakers duo. Everyone else is up for debate. Ranking Bryant and O’Neal ninth and tenth on the all-time list is undermining their achievements, something that the latter will attest to.
