Using the formula of comparing players of the same position, added to a player’s individual impact on basketball during his playing years, how long the player dominated in the league, his individual accomplishments, his team’s accomplishments and his role on the team during those accomplishments, the list of greatest centers of all-time has been created. The last thing to consider when determining if someone is one of the greatest is to accurately predict and justify why that player would have the same success if he played in a different era. Being the greatest of all-time is a literal list, not a list of favorites and popular names. Now that the criteria have been established, let’s examine the list of the four greatest centers of all-time.
Saving the best for last, the list begins with the largest center to dominate the game. In fact, this guy was the largest physically and in terms of personality and character, there is no one known and loved more for his non-basketball attributes than Shaquille O’Neal. In 1992, Shaq was the first pick of the draft and immediately put his stamp on the league by winning in a landslide vote the Rookie of the Year award and was the first rookie since Michael Jordan to be voted as an all-star starter.
He came with a force unseen by the league since the days of Wilt Chamberlain, weighing in at 325lbs and standing 7’1” tall. Shaq also had the agility of a small forward, shown in his quick baseline spin moves and one hand alley oops in traffic.
The force he brought on his dunks surpassed that of the great power-dunker Daryl Dawkins. Not only did Shaq shatter a few backboards like Dawkins, he brought down the entire basketball stanchion even though they were constructed to endure dunks with the force that dunkers like O’Neal and Dawkins brought to the game.
Shaquille O’Neal was an immediate leader on his team and in his third season, after being voted to his third consecutive all-star team, he lead the Orlando Magic to their first playoff series win. The winning didn’t stop there as they made it all the way to the finals only to lose to fellow Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler’s Houston Rockets.
In his fifth season, as a free agent, he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. He and a young budding star named Kobe Bryant, along with a host of seasoned veterans who were coached by Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, formed a dynasty and went on to win three consecutive titles from 2000-2003. Although they made it to the finals for a fourth straight year in 2004 after adding all star veterans Karl Malone and Gary Payton, they were defeated by the Pistons in five games. Shaq was heavily criticized for his lack of dominance in that series and because of his on going feud with Bryant, he was traded to Miami the following season.
In Miami, Shaq bonded with Heat rising star Dwayne Wade. The two, along with seasoned veterans Gary Payton, Alonzo Morning and Eddie Jones, surpassed expectations and won the championship defeating the Dirk Nowitzki lead Mavericks in six games. This was the only one of Shaq’s championships where he wasn’t voted the Finals MVP.
In his 19 years in the NBA, O’Neal was one league MVP (2000), was an NBA champion four times (2000, 2001, 2002, 2006), was the Finals MVP three times and was an all-star 15 times. He was voted eight times to the NBA first team, twice to the second team, and four more times to the third team. Twice in his career he was the NBA scoring champion and three times he was voted to the all-NBA defensive second team. In his 15 all-star appearances, he was the MVP of the game three times. Outside the NBA, he was voted the FIBA Word Championship MVP, starred in many movies and even made four rap albums. O’Neal is the only basketball player in history to have an album go platinum.
Shaquille O’Neal’s size, strength and agility not only allowed him to dominate the NBA for nearly two decades, but he would’ve dominated in the same fashion, if not more, in any decade of the NBA. That is why Shaquille O’Neal is undoubtedly the fourth greatest center of all-time.
dashthewriter 