Shaquille O’Neal let it be known that he wasn’t appreciative of Wilt Chamberlain being considered a more dominant force than the Lakers legend.
Shaquille O’Neal has had one of the most illustrious careers in NBA history and unlike other legends like Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan, seems to be quite content with how it all panned out. Kobe, one several occasions, has stated that he always regretted not passing Jordan in total ring count while the latter claims to have wanted a 7th championship.
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Shaquille O’Neal, though he does not have as many rings as the two aforementioned superstars, enjoyed a bevy of success over a 19 year career. Everything from consecutive Finals MVPs to regular season MVPs, the ‘Big Aristotle’ has come close having a resume that could be up for the ‘GOAT’ title.
However, according to Shaq himself, he has no interest in being labelled as the greatest of all time. To him, the title of ‘most dominant ever’ was more lucrative.
Shaquille O’Neal wanted to be considered more dominant than Wilt Chamberlain.
There’s no denying that Wilt Chamberlain got what he wanted on the offensive end of the floor. Sure, the argument could be made that Shaquille O’Neal had to play against more imposing forces than Wilt as the latter pitted himself against big-men who didn’t exactly go down as the most athletic players in NBA history.
Regardless of the competition they faced, the topic of ‘most dominant ever’ usually delves into a Shaq-Wilt debate. During an interview with Graham Bensinger, Shaquille O’Neal revealed that one of the biggest if his career was him getting injured during his stint with the Boston Celtics, resulting in him not being able to pass Chamberlain on the all time scoring list.
The Lakers legend fell a couple thousand point short of catching up to ‘The Big Dipper’ and claims that having him considered to be the most dominant force in league history irks him.
Well, at least Shaq can take solace in the fact that he, not only has more championships than Chamberlain, but won them with twice as many teams residing within the NBA.