NBA: 2000s All-Decade first team
First Team: C – Shaquille O’Neal:
2000s Resume: 10 seasons, five NBA Finals appearances, four NBA titles, three NBA Finals MVP awards, one regular season MVP award, seven-time All-NBA First Team, one-time All-NBA Third Team, three-time NBA All-Defensive Second Team, one-time NBA leader in scoring, nine-time NBA All-Star, 22.6 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 2.6 APG and 2.1 BPG, 25.6 average PER
If it weren’t for Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal would have been the most accomplished player of the 2000s. His vibrant, comedic personality made him beloved off the court, but on the court Shaq was a freight train you did not want to get in front of. One of the most dominant big men in NBA history, Shaq wasn’t the most technically skilled player. But his sheer size, strength and shot-blocking ability helped him anchor four different title teams in the 2000s.
Shaq was a poor free throw shooter, but was still able to completely take games over when his team needed it. His easy-going attitude didn’t help tensions with his ultra-competitive teammate Kobe Bryant, but the Lakers were still able to threepeat and make a fourth Finals appearance with that dynamic duo. After Shaq left L.A., he was an instrumental force in helping Dwyane Wade win his first title with the Miami Heat.
Shaq’s defense was never as good as it should’ve been for a guy his size, but Diesel was capable of putting up video game numbers on any given night and he usually did. His time with the Phoenix Suns was mostly forgettable, but O’Neal probably should have won more than one MVP award during his time in the league. In 2000, Shaq joined Michael Jordan and Willis Reed as the only players to ever win the MVP, All-Star Game MVP and Finals MVP in the same season. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but he was the most dominant center of the decade and by all rights one of the greatest 12 players of all time.
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