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NBA Hall of Famer, Shaquille O’Neal accomplished a ton on the basketball court during his NBA career.
The NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2000, The Big Diesel won 4 NBA Championships, was named to the NBA’s 50 Most Greatest Players list, was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 1993.
Drafted first in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic, he literally was everybody’s teammate because he retired in 2011.
Think about it: In Orlando with the Magic, Shaq was teammates with Penny Hardaway, in LA, he was Lakers teammates with Kobe Bryant and as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, he and LeBron James were teammates.
He also won a championship with Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat in 2006, played with Steve Nash, Grant Hill and the Phoenix Suns and concluded his career with a Boston Celics team that had Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett on their roster.
That’s a ton of talent and personalities.
Appearing on the Scoop B Radio Podcast, Shaq discussed his impressions of his former Lakers teammates.
Check out the transcript from our discussion below:
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: You have had the advantage of literally playing with everybody. Playing on the court, being on the roster, I just look at the connection between Penny Hardaway, LeBron, Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Nate Robinson, Kevin Garnett… you played with –I mean I feel that you were at everybody’s house when you was a kid so to speak. You have the jurisdiction to speak on the matter. Kyle Kuzma told me recently that it’s kind of irresponsible to compare you know, Michael and Kobe and then LeBron and Magic. But I want to ask this open-ended question. Having played with Penny, having played with Kobe, and having played with LeBron. Are there any similar temperaments that all of those guys possess?
Shaquille O’Neal: No.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Really?
Shaquille O’Neal: They’re all different.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Can you break it down? Starting with Kobe…
Shaquille O’Neal: I’d rather not because people will take it personal
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Okay. Gotcha. However, Penny was a young Magic Johnson and I was a young Kareem. Kobe was a young Michael Jordan before he became Michael Jordan. And LeBron is both of them combined. And D-Wade was Kobe when he was coming into his own. I’ll just put it like that.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: No that’s powerful. That’s powerful. Scoop B Radio on the line talking with three time NBA Finals MVP Shaquille O’Neal…Shaq, how many jobs you got?
Shaquille O’Neal: One.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: [laughing]…which is…
Shaquille O’Neal: To make people happy.