In the late 90s to the beginning of this century, Olajuwon, Ewing, David Robinson all slipped from the peak, lost dominance, and slowly withdrew from the NBA, at this time, Shaquille O'Neill took over the baton of his predecessors, showed the power of the center again, and became the strongest center in the NBA, opening his glory years.
The dominant "big shark"
O'Neill has been different since childhood, tall and mighty, at the age of 13 by the University of Louisiana head coach Dale Brown as an adult, in adulthood, O'Neal's talent is not a little bit stronger than his peers, but several grades stronger, under Brown's teaching, O'Neal also practiced solid steps, making him a talented and skilled player.
O'Neill is 2.16 meters tall, not very tall in the center, but O'Neal is too big, 147.4 kg, can knock the opposing center in, such a huge block, so that O'Neill's opponent is difficult to put O'Neill in front of him, and O'Neill is also very powerful, his bench press reached 209 kg, the big and strong, O'Neal can crush any center under the basket, no one can defend him alone.
O'Neill's static physical condition is very good, his athletic ability is also very strong, his bounce speed is very fast, the bounce is very strong, which allows O'Neill to work at height, under the basket to complete the powerful personal dunk, big, but also dunk, which makes people very helpless, O'Neal is also very flexible, his turning speed is very fast, the pace is also very flexible, not heavy, these two points to O'Neill's help is great, so that he can have strength and block advantage in the alignment at the same time not be limited by the opponent's speed and flexibility, if not these two points, O'Neal is a big, but bulky player, and the destructive power is not very large.
Physically, O'Neal is big, jumps high, jumps fast, is flexible, technically, O'Neal's technique is not enough to see compared to the technical flow center, but O'Neill is skilled, and his little hooker is a must.
Hook hand is in principle can not be prevented from death scoring means, his shot point is high, and on the side of the completion of the shot, the opponent is difficult to cover, O'Neal's hook hand, the amplitude is not large, the action is relatively small, is called small hook hand. Don't look at O'Neal's shooting, but after a fierce confrontation under the basket, O'Neal's hand is still very soft, and his judgment of the distance to the basket is very accurate, and he can dunk the ball into the basket. With this, O'Neal is not afraid of any opponent in the position battle, facing anyone, he can squeeze the opponent with his body, come to a suitable position, and then use the small hooker to hook the ball in and complete this goal.
O'Neill's small hook hand is a must, his ability to position is also extremely strong, the wide body is difficult to guard, and his flexible steps can allow him and his opponent to quickly move away from the opponent when engaging in fierce confrontation, go deeper, O'Neill's footstep selection is also very lethal, constantly squeezing the opponent's space, and then let a turn put the opponent in place.
O'Neal's performance under the basket is very good, the most impressive is his destructive power, other centers, such as Olajuwon, he uses technology to score the ball, it looks wonderful, and O'Neal's style of the ball is very violent, a back punch squeezes the opponent to the east and west, and then a crisp and neat dunk, not only hit the ball, but also let the audience look very enjoyable, this destructive power is very invisible in other centers, that is, because of the strong destructive force, O'Neal is called "big shark", "big diesel engine".
O'Neill's destructive power is not only effective for ordinary centers, but also for Olajuwon, Ewing, Mutombo, these defenses are very good centers, but also can not play a great role in O'Neal's performance is still very good, O'Neal's dominance is very strong, people recognize O'Neal is one of the most dominant centers, and it is precisely because of his strong dominance that O'Neal can achieve great success in the NBA, winning many awards, below, talk about O'Neal's NBA career.
The third grade helped the Magic reach the finals
In the 1992 draft, the Magic selected O'Neal with the title in his hand, and came to the Magic, O'Neal is the core of the team's interior line, the Magic gave O'Neal enough room to play, and O'Neill's performance is also worthy of the expectations of the Magic. In his NBA debut, magic vs. Heat, O'Neal played 32 minutes, contributing 12 points, 18 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks, perfectly demonstrating his dominance under the basket. In the third game of the NBA career, O'Neal played 34 minutes, carried the team, and cut 35 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal and 1 assist, but unfortunately, the Magic did not win this game, and O'Neal cut in the air.
The young O'Neal took the team on his shoulders, led the team forward with a wonderful personal performance, won the support of fans, and he made his mid-season All-Star game debut, one of the few rookies in NBA history to be selected as an All-Star in a rookie season. Throughout the season, O'Neal played 81 games, scored 30+ in 10 games, scored 46 points in a single game, rebounded 20+ in 8 games, rebounded 28 times in a single game, averaged 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 3.5 blocks per game, which was unique in the rookie, O'Neal was elected the best rookie, and was also very prominent in the league, ranking eighth in the scoring list, second in the rebounding list, second in the block list, and the first-year O'Neal was already a star in the league.
After becoming a star, O'Neal's goal is to lead the team to good results and bring the championship trophy back to Orlando. In the second-year season, O'Neal's performance was even more exciting, the first game of the season was 42 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block in 31 minutes, leading the team to a big victory over the Heat, against the Timberwolves, O'Neal cut 53 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 36 minutes, leading the team to a big victory over the Timberwolves, at the end of the season, O'Neal averaged 29.3 points, 13.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.9 blocks per game, shooting 59.9% from the field. O'Neal's brilliant performance allowed the Magic to achieve a record of 50 wins and 32 losses, making it to the playoffs as fourth in the East.
In the playoffs, O'Neal was brilliant, but the playoffs weren't a place to go it alone, with the young Magic swept by the Pacers. In the 94-95 season, the magic came back, O'Neal's performance was still outstanding, and his Hardaway performance was more exciting, and the overall strength of the team was stronger, which allowed O'Neal to get rid of the situation of fighting alone and can play in the playoffs. At the end of the 94-95 season, the Magic ranked first in the East with a record of 57 wins and 25 losses, and made a strong advance into the playoffs.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Magic faced the Celtics, and the Magic defeated the Celtics in three strokes and five divisions to advance to the second round. Magic's opponent in the second round is stronger, is the Bulls, the first four games ended, the two sides fought a 2-2 draw, the battle of the kings, O'Neal feels average, but the destructive power is not reduced, the whole game contributed 23 points, 22 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 blocks and 2 steals, helping the Magic to win by 8 points and get the match point. In the sixth game, O'Neal contributed 27 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 1 block to help the Magic beat the Bulls by 6 points to advance to the next round.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Magic met the Pacers, who eliminated themselves last season, which ranked third in the East in the regular season, but the strength and Magic were not much different, and the game was fierce after the Start of the Eastern Conference Finals. In the first game of the series, O'Neal contributed 32 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists, the Magic won 4 points and won the victory, the second game, O'Neal contributed 39 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, the Magic won one more game, after losing two consecutive games, the Pacers counterattacked, the Magic lost two consecutive games, the Battle of Tianwangshan, O'Neal contributed 35 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists, the Magic won, but lost the sixth game, or to fight seven, grab seven, magic big win over the Pacers, wading through the danger.
O'Neal stepped on the stage of the Finals, facing the Rockets' Olajuwon, O'Neill could not prevent Olajuwon, but his offensive performance was not affected, the performance was very stable, averaging 28 points, 12.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.5 blocks per game, the Magic played very hard, but they were still too young, inexperienced, and after the Rockets escaped in the first game, they lost their hearts and lost three consecutive games to end the playoff journey with being swept away.
It was heartening for the young Magic to achieve such an achievement, but after O'Neal's contract expired, the Magic did not choose to sign O'Neill, but let O'Neill go, O'Neill became a member of the Lakers, and at the Lakers, O'Neal reached the peak of his career.
Winning three consecutive FMVPs and demonstrating dominance
After coming to the Lakers, the Lakers formed a team around O'Neal, but it is not an easy task to form a team, it needs to be done step by step, in the 96-97 season, the Lakers found Kobe Bryant through a trade, and found the future backcourt core for the team, after that, the Lakers became stronger step by step, until the 1999-00 season, the Lakers formed the lineup, competitive, that is, in this season, O'Neal and teammates worked closely together, played their strong ability, so that the Lakers became a strong team in the league, He averaged 29.7 points, 13.6 points, 3.8 assists and 3 blocks per game, leading the Lakers to a record of 66 wins and 13 losses, the league first, O'Neal was elected MVP, and also the leading scorer.
At the beginning of the playoffs, the Lakers showed a strong competitiveness, O'Neal was unstoppable on the court, facing the Kings in the first round, O'Neal averaged 29.4 points, 17.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 blocks per game, helping the Lakers win the Kings and advance to the second round. Against the Suns, O'Neal played very freely, averaging 30.2 points, 16.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.6 blocks per game, and the Lakers easily defeated the Suns 4-1 to reach the Western Conference Finals. In the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers met tenacious trail blazers, they dragged the series into the rush seven, grab seven, O'Neal shot 5 of 9, contributed 18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block, the Lakers won by 5 points, thrillingly entered the Finals.
The opponent of the Lakers Finals is the Pacers, the Pacers inside line can not limit O'Neal, O'Neal turned the river on the inside line, the first game 43 points, 19 rebounds and 4 assists, the second game 40 points, 24 rebounds and 4 assists, helped the Lakers win two consecutive games, the third game the Lakers lost, but O'Neal contributed 36 points, 21 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in the fourth game, the Lakers won by 2 points, got the match point, the fifth game, the Lakers lost to the Pacers by 33 points, the series entered the sixth game, in the sixth game, O'Neal carried the team's offense, He contributed 41 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks, helping the Lakers win by 5 points and beat the Pacers 4-2 to win the championship.
In the six games of the Finals, O'Neal averaged 38 points, 16.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1 steal per game, and his performance was very exciting, and he was elected FMVP, and O'Neal became another player to win the MVP and FMVP. In the 2000-01 season, the Lakers played well in the regular season and in the playoffs, winning consecutively, breaking out of the West and reaching the Finals to meet the 76ers.
In the first game of the Finals, O'Neal contributed 44 points, 20 rebounds and 5 assists, which was excellent, but he could not withstand Iverson's gods, the Lakers lost, and in the second game, O'Neal had 28 points, 20 rebounds and 9 assists, leading the team to win back a set. In the third game, O'Neal 30 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks, the Lakers have another game, the fourth game, O'Neal 34 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists, the Lakers easily win and get the match point, the fifth game, O'Neal 29 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 blocks, the Lakers won the game and ended the Finals. O'Neal averaged 33 points, 15.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.4 blocks per game, and was the best player in both teams, and took the FMVP into his arms.
In the 01-02 season, the Lakers repeated the script of last season, but in the Western Conference Finals, they met the tenacious Kings and fell into the predicament, at this time, O'Neal stepped forward and contributed 27 points, 18 rebounds and 3 blocks in the fourth game, helping the Lakers win this game, equalizing the big score to 2-2, the battle of Tianwangshan O'Neal 28 points and 7 rebounds, the Lakers lost, the sixth life and death game, O'Neal contributed 41 points, 17 rebounds and 2 blocks, helped the Lakers win by 4 points, and dragged the series into the seventh.
In the seventh, O'Neal played 50 minutes, contributed 35 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks, helped the Lakers get this victory, and also laughed to the end, broke into the West, and reached the Finals. In the Finals, the Nets' interior line was completely insufficient for O'Neal to play, O'Neal could easily win 30+, and the Lakers swept the Nets with the help of O'Neal, won the championship, and achieved three consecutive championships, which was the first triple championship in the history of the Lakers. In four games, O'Neal averaged 36.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.8 blocks per game, the best player in the game, and O'Neal was elected FMVP for the third time.
Three times elected FMVP, highlighting O'Neill's strong dominance, no matter what kind of internal line, O'Neill can suppress the opponent, play a good performance, that is, with these three FMVPs, to determine O'Neill's historical status. In the 2003-04 season, the Lakers formed an extremely luxurious lineup, known as "F4", but in the end they failed to win the championship, O'Neal left the Lakers in the summer of 2004 and joined the Heat.
Transform into an assist to help the Heat win the championship
Coming to the Heat, O'Neal's state is very good, but compared with before, he has become the second boss, the big boss is Wade, O'Neal is still working the court, working hard for the first championship in the history of the Heat. In the 2005–06 season, the Heat were in excellent shape, reaching the playoffs, the Lencor Bulls and nets, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. In the Eastern Conference Finals, facing the Pistons' iron barrel formation, O'Neal played very freely, in the crucial sixth game, O'Neal shot 12 of 14, contributed 28 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks, helping the Heat to beat the Pistons, advance to the Finals, and compete with the Lone Ranger for the championship.
In the Finals, O'Neal's role is less, the ball is not much, but he did his job, in the third game, he contributed 16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal, helped the Heat end the losing streak, pulled back a game, in the fourth game, he contributed 17 points, 13 rebounds and 3 steals, the Heat won the Lone Ranger, in the fifth game, O'Neal fought hard for 47 minutes, contributed 18 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks, the Heat narrowly won the Lone Ranger by 1 point, won the championship with a big score of 4-2, O'Neal won the fourth championship, This championship was the first championship in the history of the Heat, and since then, the Heat have also been a championship team.
After this, O'Neal continued to play in the Heat, O'Neal played well, but the Heat had a whim, sent O'Neal to the Suns, in the Sun, O'Neal played well, averaging 17.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 blocks per game, but looking at O'Neal's performance, it is obvious that he is old.
In the last two seasons of his career, O'Neal played for the Cavaliers and Celtics, when he was affected by injuries and it was difficult to continue playing, and O'Neal announced his retirement, ending his NBA career.
Write at the end
O'Neal's achievements in the NBA are huge, he has won 4 championships, 3 FMVP, 1 MVP, 2 scoring champions, 15 all-stars, 13 all-team, 3 best defensive teams, O'Neal can be called a superstar.
O'Neal won the love of the fans and the recognition of the stars, And Kobe Bryant said: "O'Neal is the most talented big man, one of the best players I have partnered with. Wade said of O'Neill: "Basketball games will be spoiled because of her, and the sharks must be given a high degree of respect! O'Neill has had great success on the pitch, he's also a brilliant commentator, businessman, and O'Neal is not only a great player, but also a life winner.