Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is one of the greatest players in NBA lore. Because of his unique set of individual and team accomplishments, he is uniquely positioned to speak on player status and historical relevance.
This week, O’Neal tackled an interesting topic: who is the most dominant player in league history.
Unlike the ongoing debate regarding who the GOAT is, O’Neal feels like there is a more narrow group of players who qualify for this specific distinction.
In fact, O’Neal thinks it’s essentially a two-player race.
“It’s either me or Wilt [Chamberlain],” O’Neal told GQ Magazine. “I already passed Wilt in championships. When I signed a two-year deal with Boston, I was chasing that fifth ring to catch up with Kobe, but I was also chasing points to catch up with Wilt.
“When you say the best, there are 20 people—Dr. J, Magic, Kareem, Bill,” O’Neal added. “It goes on. But when you say most dominant, there’s only two, so I’m happy.”
It’s tough to dispute O’Neal’s assessment. A little while back, black-and-white footage of Chamberlain was colorized and immediately went viral. That video introduced a lot of younger fans to how incredible of a skillset he boasted.
As for O’Neal – his track record speaks for itself. Four titles; three Finals MVPs; one regular season MVP; 15 All-Star nods. The accomplishments are off the charts.
Paulina Gretzky just stole the show at the Masters. https://t.co/SA9gAXW2HC
— Game 7 (@game7__) April 8, 2022
Will O’Neal go down in league history as the best to ever do it? Probably not. But is he very much in the running for “most dominant,” as he explained?
Absolutely.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
