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  BACKGROUND
An impact player if there ever was one,
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal burst into the league at age 20 as a 7-1,
300-pound force who was virtually unstoppable. In seven seasons he has
captured a scoring title and two field goal accuracy crowns, powered the
expansion Orlando Magic into the NBA Finals and revived a sagging Los
Angeles Lakers franchise after heading to Hollywood in a huge free agent
deal. Along the way he has become the NBA's most prominent superstar since
Michael Jordan, pursuing side careers in acting and rap music. O'Neal,
whose first and middle names mean "Little Warrior" in Islam, is
the ultimate power player. He combines an array of classic post moves with
the athleticism to run the floor and the strength to dunk over anyone. His
only weakness thus far has been his free-throw shooting; he owns a .535
free throw percentage through his first six NBA seasons, and has been
below .500 twice in the last three years. O'Neal demolished college
competition while at Louisiana State University, where he played one
season with Chris Jackson (later Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf) and Stanley Roberts,
who both went on to the NBA. In O'Neal's sophomore season, 1990-91, he
averaged 27.6 points and 14.7 rebounds and shot .628 from the field. His
rebounding average led the nation, and he was named national Player of the
Year in most polls. As a junior he was double and triple-teamed more
frequently, and his average dropped to 24.1 points per game; however, he
led the nation in blocked shots at 5.2 per contest. He left school after
his junior season as the Southeastern Conference's all-time leader in
blocked shots and the first player to lead the conference in rebounding
for three years since Charles Barkley. O'Neal was a First-Team
All-American as a sophomore and a junior, although Duke's Christian
Laettner won most Player of the Year awards in 1992. The Orlando Magic won
the 1992 NBA Draft Lottery, thereby earning the right to select O'Neal
with the first pick in the upcoming draft. The 20-year-old rookie
established himself immediately, grabbing 18 rebounds in his first game
and winning NBA Player of the Week honors for his first week in the
league. O'Neal finished his rookie season ranked eighth in the NBA in
scoring (23.4 ppg), second in rebounding (13.9 rpg), second in blocks
(3.53 per game), fourth in field goal percentage (.562), and first in
turnovers (307). He was the youngest participant ever in the NBA All Star
Game and was named 1993 NBA Rookie of the Year. O'Neal also sparked the
Magic to a 41-41 record, a 20-game improvement over the previous season.
In 1993-94 O'Neal led the league in scoring for much of the year until San
Antonio's David Robinson scored 71 points on the last day of the season to
take the title. O'Neal averaged 29.3 points (to Robinson's 29.8) and 13.2
rebounds. His .599 field goal percentage led the NBA and bettered his
season free throw percentage of .554. O'Neal teamed with Anfernee Hardaway
to give Orlando one of the NBA's best inside-outside tandems. He won his
first scoring title in 1994-95, averaging 29.3 points while leading the
Magic to the best record in the Eastern Conference at 57-25. Orlando
pushed all the way to the NBA Finals before being swept by the Houston
Rockets in four games. Following the 1994-95 campaign, O'Neal was named to
the 1996 Dream Team, which would win gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
After missing the start of 1995-96 due to a broken right thumb, O'Neal
came back as strong as ever and ranked among the NBA's top 10 in scoring,
field goal percentage and shotblocking for the fourth year in a row.
Following the season he became a veteran free agent and signed with the
Lakers, joining a list of great centers who have played for that
franchise, a group that includes George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar. Injuries marred O'Neal's debut season with the Lakers, as he
was limited to a career-low 51 games. When healthy, however, he played
brilliantly, averaging 26.2 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.88 blocks and
serving as the cornerstone of a revived Lake
1997-98 NOTES
Named to the 1997-98 All-NBA First Team Named
NBA Player of the Month for April, averaging a league-best 33.8 ppg, 10.5
rpg, 2.7 apg and 2.10 bpg to lead the Lakers to a 9-1 month Grabbed his
5,000th career rebound, posting a game-high 35 points, 15 rebounds, 4
blocked shots and 3 assists, in a 102-98 win over the Utah Jazz on 4/19
Totaled a game-high 43 points (18-22 FG), 5 rebounds and 4 blocked shots
in a 124-95 win over the Dallas Mavericks on 4/17 Scored a season-high 50
points and grabbed 9 rebounds in a 117-106 victory over the New Jersey
Nets on 4/2 Named NBA Player of the Week for the week ending 3/22,
averaging 28.8 ppg and 14.8 rpg and shooting .517 from the field for the
3-1 Lakers Recorded a game-high 33 points and a season-high 22 rebounds in
a 99-93 victory over the Phoenix Suns on 3/18 Registered 44 points, 12
rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 3 steals against the Seattle SuperSonics on
2/13 Scored his 10,000th career point, posting game-highs of 31 points and
12 rebounds, against the Portland Trail Blazers on 2/10 Scored 12 points
and grabbed 4 rebounds in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game in New York Named NBA
Player of the Month for January, averaging 29.0 ppg, 12.8 rpg, 2.8 apg and
2.77 bpg to lead the Lakers to a 9-4 record Totaled 27 points, game-highs
of 19 rebounds and 6 blocked shots and 5 assists against the New Jersey
Nets on 1/28 Recorded game-highs of 35 points, 15 rebounds and 7 blocked
shots and added 3 assists in a 92-89 win over the Orlando Magic on 1/19
Sidelined for 20 consecutive games, from 11/23 to 12/30, due to an
abdominal strain and a hairline fracture in his right wrist Named NBA
Player of the Week for the week ending 11/16, averaging 27.3 ppg, 11.3 rpg,
3.25 apg and 3.00 bpg for the 4-0 Lakers Registered 24 points, 18
rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocked shots in a 113-103 double-overtime win
over the Houston Rockets on 11/14 Posted game-highs of 34 points, 15
rebounds and 4 blocked shots in a 109-100 overtime win over the San
Antonio Spurs on 11/13 Totaled a game-high 37 points (17-23 FG), 12
rebounds and 3 blocked shots in a 118-96 victory over the Dallas Mavericks
on 11/11
1996-97 NOTES
O'Neal missed 31 games due to injury,
including 28 from Feb. 13 through April 9 due to a hyperextended left
knee. The Lakers could do no better than 16-12 in that 28-game stretch,
but in the final five games of the regular season O'Neal returned and
averaged 29.4 ppg in leading the Lakers to a 4-1 mark going into the
playoffs. Appearing in a career-low 51 games, O'Neal averaged 26.2 points,
12.5 rebounds and 2.88 blocked shots and shot .557 from the field. He
would have ranked among the league leaders in all four categories had he
played enough to qualify, but he did make the list for blocks (third) and
shooting percentage (fourth). He became the first Laker since Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar in 1980-81 to average 20 points and 10 rebounds, something he
now has done in each of his five NBA seasons. He scored 20 points or more
in 44 of his 51 games, reaching the 30-point marker 15 times and twice
getting at least 40, including a season-high 42 in a 108-99 win over
Sacramento on April 17. He had a pair of 20-20 games, grabbing a
season-high 21 rebounds to go with 29 points in a 96-86 victory over San
Antonio on Nov. 22 and getting 23 points and 20 rebounds in a 100-88 win
at Philadelphia on Nov. 26. O'Neal was the NBA's Player of the Week for
the period ending Dec. 15 and the Player of the Month for December. He was
selected to play in the All-Star Game but sat out due to injury. Despite
(or perhaps because of) only playing 51 games, he was voted to the All-NBA
Third Team. In the playoffs, O'Neal led the Lakers with 26.9 points, 10.6
rebounds and 1.89 blocks and shot .514 from the field, tops among
regulars.
1995-96 NOTES
Though a broken thumb sidelined him for the
first third of the season, O'Neal came back to rank third in the NBA in
scoring at 26.6 points per game, third in field goal percentage at .573
and ninth in shotblocking at 2.13 blocks per game. He has now ranked among
the NBA's top 10 in those three categories in each of his four years in
the league. He also grabbed 11.0 rebounds per game, but did not have
enough to qualify for the leader list, where he would have stood sixth.
O'Neal was named to the All-NBA Third Team at season's end. In the
playoffs he averaged 25.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game while shooting
.606 from the field. His postseason was highlighted by a career-high 41
points in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Atlanta.
O'Neal suffered a fracture at the base of his right thumb in a preseason
game against the Miami Heat on Oct. 24. He underwent surgery two days
later and opened the season on the injured list, where he stayed until he
was activated on Dec. 8. In his first action of the season against Utah on
Dec. 15, O'Neal led Orlando with 26 points and 11 rebounds in 24 minutes
off the bench. O'Neal, who also missed four games during January due to a
bruised left quadricep, was named the NBA's Player of the Week for the
period ending March 3 after averaging 35.0 points, 13.3 rebounds, 3.33
blocks and 3.33 assists while shooting 55 percent from the field as
Orlando went 3-0. He scored in double figures in all 54 games he played,
with a season-high 49 points at Washington on March 22, and reached double
figures in rebounds 38 times, with a season-high 19 against Boston on Jan.
30. Voted an All-Star starter by the fans, O'Neal had a game-high 25
points in 28 minutes and also grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the East to a
129-118 victory in San Antonio. He was the runnerup to Michael Jordan in
the MVP voting by a 4-3 margin. Shortly before helping the U.S. Olympic
team to a gold medal in Atlanta, O'Neal signed as a veteran free agent
with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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