Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (born March 6, 1972), often nicknamed "Shaq", is an American former professional basketball player, actor, and rapper who is currently a sports analyst on the television program Inside the NBA on TNT along with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith as of January 2012.

He is considered one of the greatest players and centers in National Basketball Association (NBA) history. Standing at 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall and weighing 325 pounds (147 kg), he was one of the heaviest players to ever play in the NBA. O'Neal played for six teams over his 19-year career.

Biography

Following his time at Louisiana State University, O'Neal was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. He quickly became one of the best centers in the league, winning Rookie of the Year in 1992–93 and leading his team to the 1995 NBA Finals. After four years with the Magic, O'Neal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. They won three consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002 against the Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, and New Jersey Nets, respectively and O'Neal was named the Finals MVP all three times. Amid tension between O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004, and his fourth and final NBA championship followed in 2006 with Dwyane Wade being the MVP. Midway through the 2007–08 season he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. After a season-and-a-half with the Suns, O'Neal was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009–10 season for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a 2011 second-round pick and cash. O'Neal signed a 2-year deal with the Boston Celtics in the 2010–11 season before retiring. Was the 26th player to play for both the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, the two most storied franchises in the NBA.

O'Neal's individual accolades include the 1999–00 MVP award, the 1992–93 NBA Rookie of the Year award, 15 All-Star game selections, three All-Star Game MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, 14 All-NBA team selections, and three NBA All-Defensive Team selections. He is one of the only three players to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP, and Finals MVP awards in the same year (2000); the other players are Willis Reed in 1970 and Michael Jordan in 1996 and 1998. O'Neal and Jordan are the only players in NBA history to win Finals MVP in three straight seasons. He is the only player in NBA history to score at least 30 points in every game of multiple NBA Finals. He ranks 8th all-time in points scored, 6th in field goals, 15th in rebounds, and 8th in blocks. Largely due to his ability to dunk the basketball, O'Neal also ranks third all-time in field goal percentage (58.2%). O'Neal was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016 along with Darell Garretson, Allen Iverson, Tom Izzo, John McLendon, and Sheryl Swoopes. He was elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2017 along with Toni Kukoč.

In addition to his basketball career, O'Neal has released four rap albums, with his first, Shaq Diesel, going platinum. O'Neal is also an electronic music producer, and touring DJ, known as DIESEL. He has appeared in numerous films and has starred in his own reality shows, Shaq's Big Challenge and Shaq Vs. He hosts  The Big Podcast with Shaq. He is also the first general manager of Kings Guard Gaming of the NBA 2K League. O'Neal appeared on the cover of NBA Live 96, NBA 2K6, NBA 2K7, NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC, NBA Hoopz, and NBA Inside Drive 2004, and most recently, O'Neal appeared on the cover of the NBA 2K18 Legend Edition. Since the NBA 2K15 iteration, O'Neal has also appeared as a virtual studio analyst in the popular game.

Stats

Shaquille O'Neal played 19 seasons for 6 teams, including the Lakers and Magic. He averaged 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.3 blocks in 1,207 regular-season games. He was selected to play in 15 All-Star games. He won the Rookie of the Year award, 1 MVP award, 3 Finals MVP awards and 4 NBA championships. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

Facts

Shaquille O'Neal nickname

Shaquille O'Neal nickname is given to him by his fans. He is widely known as Big Shamrock, Dr. Shaq, Diesel, Hobo Master, L.C.L, MDE, Manny Shaq-Iaou, MayorMcShaq, Osama Bin Shaq, Shaq, Shaq Daddy, Shaq Fu, Superman, The Big Banana, The Big Banana, The Big Galactus, The Real Deal, The Big Twitterer, Witness Protection.

Shaquille O'Neal tattoo

In the case of Shaquille O'Neal's tattoo, you might know that he has had 11 tattoos on his body. He tattooed AGAINST THE LAW on his right shoulder. He said: "My game’s so good, there has to be a law to stop it." Below it, the legend inked the superman logo, which represents his nickname, and below it, he has a tattoo of The World Is Mine. Shaq tattooed the word BIG on the inside of his right forearm. He has a ring with the letters DOG inside it on his right forearm, and Shaq also has a tattoo of a patch with three names tattooed inside it on the legend's left wrist. On the inside of his left forearm, there is a tattoo of a huge target sign. Shaq inked an angel on his left forearm. There is the word DIESEL on his left shoulder and his left upper arm, O'Neal has another Superman logo with the words, MAN OF STEEL around it. The Big Banana inked the words Diesel Doc, which was surrounded by a design of flames on his chest. 

Awards And Accomplishments

Named by the NBA as one of the league's 50 greatest players of all time.

1990 - Sets a collegiate conference record of 115 blocked shots

1990-91 - Named national Player of the Year in media polls

1991 - Wins the Adolph Rupp Trophy and the John Wooden Award as college basketball player of the year

1992- Picked first in the first round overall of the National Basketball Association draft

1993 - Named National Basketball Association Rookie of the Year; named to National Basketball Association All-Rookie First Team

1993-98 - Named to National Basketball Association All-Star

1996 - Won a gold medal with the US Olympic Basketball Team; selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in National Basketball Association history; included as one of only four athletes among the 100 most powerful people in sports, Sporting News (December 30, 1996).

1999 - Named Most Valuable Player for the league.

2000 - Named most valuable player for the league; named most valuable player for the finals; named most valuable player for the All-Star game; jersey Number 33 retired by Louisiana State University athletic department.

2001 - Named most valuable player for the league finals

2002 - Named most valuable player for the league finals.

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