Honorable Mentions: Penny Hardaway, Dwight Howard, Tracy McGrady
It was when he got to Los Angeles and Miami to team up with the likes of Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade that Shaquille O’Neal truly got to experience success at the next level. However, it’s important to remember just how phenomenal “The Big Aristotle” was in his early years with the Orlando Magic.
In fact, Shaq’s numbers were never better than they were with Orlando either. For four seasons with the Magic, O’Neal averaged 27.2 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. It wasn’t just his individual stats that were impressive either.
The Magic missed the playoffs in Shaq’s Rookie of the Year season, but made an impact in the postseason after that. Orlando made the Finals behind O’Neal’s stellar play in 1994-95, and a year later they made it as far as the Conference Finals.
Shaq taught me how to lead, because he’s amazing. He’s really outgoing, he’s very gregarious, he puts his arm around guys, he always checks in with guys, always makes sure that they’re good. – Kobe Bryant
The problem for O’Neal was likely that on both occasions their run came to an end behind 4-0 sweeps. As a result, once O’Neal hit free agency he never looked back, instead opting for the limelight of Hollywood. In spite of only staying four seasons, O’Neal is ranked in the franchise’s all-time top five for points, rebounds and blocks, and impacted the team more than any other in his time in Orlando.
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