Shaquille O’Neal wears the crown of the ‘most dominant player in NBA history’ with great pride. But when it comes to the GOAT debate, he isn’t a regular in those conversations. That’s primarily due to his lack of individual accolades, like the league MVP award, which he won only once, a fact that astonished J. R. Smith.
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During a discussion about Shaq’s case as the GOAT on the Nightcap podcast, host Chad Johnson hit Shannon Sharpe and Smith with a hypothetical question: would Shaq be in the GOAT debate if he had won six championships? A question that needed some thinking and hence Smith started pulling out Shaq’s accolades through his NBA Career.
Only to realize that Shaq had actually won the regular season MVP award only once.
“One [MVP]? That’s crazy… Shaq has one MVP? That’s impressive.” said J.R. Smith
Shaq was named the MVP in 2000, the same year he won his first title. He’d win three more championships in the next five years, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest centers ever. But would he have been deemed the GOAT had he added two more to his collection? Not in Smith’s books.
He argued that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar not only won six rings and two Finals MVPs but also holds the record for most MVP award wins with six. That would automatically place him above Shaq, even if he finished his career with six championships.
Sharpe agreed and noted that Magic Johnson and Bill Russell also had better resumes than the Lakers icon, and claimed he’d had no chance of usurping them on the all-time list even with two more rings.
Now, Shaq does have three Finals MVP awards to his name, however, when stacked up against Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem etc, O’Neal’s resume doesn’t really warrant a GOAT conversation.
To his credit though, Shaq has never tried to make his case to be in the GOAT debate. He has even claimed that Kareem, Chamberlain, and Hakeem Olajuwon rank above him on the list of the greatest centers. However, he believes should have had at least one more MVP award win.
Shaq’s still bitter about losing 2004-05 MVP to Steve Nash
In the 2004-05 season, O’Neal averaged 22.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.3 blocks and led the Heat to a top-place finish in the Eastern Conference standings. However, he came second in the MVP race behind Steve Nash, who averaged only 15.5 points but led the league in assists 11.5 and helped the Suns finish with the best record in the league.
Despite his spectacular campaign, many believe the guard shouldn’t have won the award. Shaq is among them and nearly two decades on, he still argues he should have been named MVP despite the Suns winning more games than the Heat. In an episode of the Big Podcast with Shaq, he claimed,
“If (a) man is averaging 27, the man is averaging 27. I don’t want to hear, ‘Oh, he’s averaging 27, but his team is ninth’. I always go back to Steve Nash beating me twice, averaging 12 points… I’m mad about that.”
Shaq may not rank high on the list of the greatest players in NBA history. However, he’s around or at the top when it comes to holding a grudge and he’ll seemingly never let go of his loss in the 2005 MVP award race.
