I remember that 3-peat.

I also remember Orlando Shaq RUNNING full court on fast breaks. I would be petrified if I saw Diesel running full speed towards my direction.

Only scored under 30 in one Finals game during that three peat and it was a 28/20/8 stateline with 8 blocks.

Shaq created unrealistic expectations for centers for my dad.

He grew up a hardcore hockey fan and got into basketball because of me. Since he got into basketball around the time of prime Shaq, to this day he thinks that every play so be dumping it to the low post and having your center score. He sees someone miss a 3 and will say to me “why didn’t they give it to their center”. Let alone when he watches a 5 like Holmgren play.

On a side note, he also thinks all players should go 100% from the FT line, and disagrees with high fiving a team mate if they miss a FT.

He missed 9.5 free throws per game. Could have got close to 50 per game.

Look at his minutes per game! Brunson I think averaged 39.2 minutes per game against the Spurs in the 2026 nba finals as a recent comparison. So O’Neil was playing an entire half of a full quarter of basketball in contrast. Over 6 extra minutes per game. I wonder how much it speaks to how different the nba is today and how much it speaks to Shaq just being in crazy shape. Probably a bit of both.

That was The Shaq Season. He was completely unstoppable, the most dominant player I’ve ever seen. The numbers are even crazier when you look at scoring across the league at the time.

Free Throw Percentage: 38.7%

Over/Under on Steph’s FT rate if he was forced to shoot left-handed and blind folded in the finals.

That 2000 season for Shaq is absolutely top 3 ever in history.

If Shaq cared about basketball as much as Kobe or LeBron did/does, he’d be the unquestionable GOAT. He’d have won 10 straight rings if he took care of his body.

Peak Shaq is in the argument for best player of all time even though his effective shooting range was about 3ft

Prime Shaq was an absolute monster

I was an avid Pacers fan during the 2000 season. Still am. Shaq does NOT get credit enough for how dominant he was during a 3-5 year stretch. Teams were throwing legitimate hard-nosed defenders at him, triple-teaming him down low, and he would throw that dunk down with authority every damn time. It was like watching God play basketball.

I still get flashbacks about how he smashed both MacCulloch and Mutombo on the Sixers in 01. There really was no one close to him, especially physically. The league literally had no answer for him aside from hacking him.

Smits and the Davis brothers couldn’t guard him at all. It was pain.

What I think makes this stat EXTRA insane is that teams averaged 97.5ppg in 2000.

The Lakers themselves averaged 104.8ppg in the playoffs - so Shaq was averaging over ¹⁄₃ of his teams total points, and almost 40% of what the average team scored in a game lol

People forget that Shaq was so physically imposing during his prime, that playoff teams were forced keep a stiff and lumbering 3rd and 4th string center on the bench for the sole purpose of hacking and fouling him in an effort to slow him down.

If that doesn’t scream dominance, then nothing does.

Prime Shaq was absolutely unstoppable. He could drop 30 on people any time he wanted. And he did all of that being about 10lbs overweight. Phil Jackson implored him every year to come to camp lighter.

“Three Ring Circus” by Jeff Pearlman is a GREAT read about the Laker teams of that time. Highly recommended.

38 a game while shooting 38.7% from the line is the craziest part. Teams literally fouled him on purpose and he still dropped that.

Not if you know ball.

So a per 36 of 33ppg.

He was on a mission that year. Rik Smits didn’t stand a chance.

Shaq was really really good

Imagine just an 80% FT shooting Shaq

Talk about clutch, right? Missing nearly half his free throws and still averaging 38 points. Imagine if he even put in half that effort into his charity stripe.

I think the stats understate his dominance during that era. Not all points are the same; and Shaqs points demoralized the opposing team.

What’s interesting is that Shaquille O’Neal, who really was that dominant and is still remembered and talked about by so many people almost like a god, got swept in the final playoff series of his season in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, and 1999. Five different years, and he couldn’t even win a single game in any of those series.

Even in 1997, he barely avoided another sweep, losing 4–1. If he’d lost that one game too, he would’ve been eliminated by a sweep six years in a row.

And the ridiculous part is that in the one game the Lakers actually won against Utah, Shaq got into foul trouble and played just 17 minutes.

I’m not saying Shaq wasn’t an incredible player. Of course he was. My point is that even someone as dominant as Shaq couldn’t get it done on his own. (And honestly, it’s not like those teams were particularly bad, either.)

39% free throw percentage is absolutely wild ahah

Somehow he split the All Star Game MVP with Duncan.

I remember seeing that series and thinking he is the GOAT. He made Kobe look like a 4th option on an NBA team.

Shaq’s prime dominance was in a league of near retired great centers. He had much less competition so his dominance was exaggerated during those championships.

Even Kobe mentioned why they threw the ball down low was because it was the greater mismatch.

I’m not arguing against his dominance, just that it was exaggerated during his prime although that’s not his fault.

There’s a reason they’re known as SHAQ & Kobe

For reddit stat kiddies who weren’t around to witness it, it’s called getting sucked off by the refs/D.Stern. He’d be elbowing and shouldering ppl away while they’re calling the fouls on them…lol .such horseshit. They’d be saying ‘he’s just too big and strong’ … meanwhile if some other dude did the EXACT same thing…OFFENSIVE FOUL 🤡

A lot of shady stuff going on those years.

Not too undermine these insane performances, but the east was so weak at the centre position during the three peat that it had to be a massacre.

If I remember correctly, It was a bit more difficult in the west with Duncan/Robinson or Sabonis/Wallace. Even the Kings with Vlade gave him a bit more trouble, though he was still dominant

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