Trailing Michael Jordan by 52 Points, Shaquille O’Neal Highlights the Greatest Single Playoff Runs in NBA History

Nandjee Ranjan | 21/08/2023
Trailing Michael Jordan by 52 Points, Shaquille O'Neal Highlights the Greatest Single Playoff Runs in NBA History

Now that there are no NBA games for fans to enjoy, Shaquille O’Neal has turned into a fact nerd, sharing cool stats with his millions of followers. If you keep an eye on Shaq’s stories on Instagram, you can possibly find some of the most intriguing details about the game’s greatest. In his recent IG story, the Big Aristotle shared a graphic that showed the list of players who have scored over 700 points in a single playoff run. Not to the surprise of many, Shaq was on the list in the sixth position, trailing Michael Jordan by 52 points.

When it comes to greatness in basketball, leaving Michael Jordan out of the discussion is almost a sin. Shaq has been sharing graphics in his recent stories, with both MJ and himself in most of them. He recently shared a graphic that showed how Jordan had made it to the list of players to win an MVP, a title, a Finals MVP, a scoring title, and an All-Defensive team selection in the same season four times in his career.

Shaquille O’Neal shares a list of the greatest NBA postseason runs by superstars

The post that Shaq shared on his IG story had the list of players who have scored 700 or more points in a single playoff run in the league’s history. Leading the list was His Airness himself. Michael Jordan scored 759 points in the Chicago Bulls’ second Championship campaign in 1992. LeBron James holds the second spot with 748 points from 2018. Kawhi Leonard’s historic finals run in 2019 with 732 points occupied the third spot. Hakeem Olajuwon (1995) and Allen Iverson (2001) were in the fourth and fifth spots respectively with 725 and 723 points. Lastly, Shaq had 707 points in the 2000 season when he won his maiden championship with the Lakers. 

 

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Of all these historic playoff performances, only Iverson and LeBron didn’t win the Championship in the year of their run. James and AI both faced a much stronger team in the Finals, to the extent that it seemed almost unfair to them. 

Shaq once said that the NBA was lucky that he and Jordan never teamed up

Shaq has played with some of the most legendary players in NBA history. He has been teammates with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and recent Hall of Fame inductee Dwyane Wade. When he was paired with Bryant, it almost felt unfair to the other teams and players. However, one of the pairings that never happened, and perhaps for good, was between Shaq and Jordan. 

Shaq recently shared a graphic on his IG story that showed Shaq and MJ in Bulls uniform. The picture said, “The NBA is lucky that MJ and Shaq never teamed up”. Quite surely the take is not wrong at all. Shaq is arguably the most dominant player to ever step on the floor. Jordan is arguably the greatest to ever play basketball. Together, The Big Aristotle and His Airness would have caused a calamity.

Post Edited By: Satagni Sikder
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About the author

Nandjee Ranjan

Nandjee is an NBA writer currently working for Sportsrush. A LeBron James fan, he supports the Los Angeles Lakers and is a passionate basketball player. Sports has had an immense impact on his personal development since a very young age. He was a zonal level football player for three years, and his passion for sports has inspired him to write about it. He has a Master's in Political Science as well as Philosophy from Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, respectively. In his spare time, he loves to go on adventures and enjoys trekking.

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