Shaquille O’Neal liked to give himself nicknames. There was
the Diesel, the Big Aristotle, Shaqtastic and Wilt Chamberneazy, among others.
After leading the Los Angeles Lakers to their third straight
NBA title in 2001-2002, he dubbed himself the “MDE” – for Most Dominant Ever.
I never took that one seriously until doing this project. I
thought Shaq was a top 10 player. I did not think he would come in ahead of
Wilt Chamberlain. After all, Shaq only won two scoring titles. He never
averaged 30 points per game. He never led the league in rebounding or blocked
shots.
It isn’t until you look at the advanced stats that you see
how effective a player he was at his peak.
·
Players have topped 30.0 in PER for a season just 21 times and O’Neal
is responsible for three of those (1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2000-2001). He led the
league in PER five times. His career PER of 26.4 is third all-time, behind just
Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
·
He topped 10.0 in Win Shares in nine seasons, including leading
the league twice.
·
He led the league in Box +/- twice and VORP once.
He was just as effective in the playoffs. He led in playoff
PER, including three times topping 30.0. His career playoff PER ranks fourth all-time.
He led in playoff Win Shares four times and his total
playoff Win Shares ranks seventh. He ranks seventh in career playoff VORP.
He also was a favorite of MVP voters. Although he won just
one MVP, he got votes in 14 seasons. He went to six NBA Finals with three
different franchises, winning four and was NBA Finals MVP three times. His
teams won 67.7 percent of their regular season games and 59.7 percent of their
postseason games.
In my system, just 17 players have topped 400 points even
once. Shaq had three of them, the 8th, 21st and 24th
best seasons ever. Wilt only had one 400+ season. You add the fact that Shaq
played 19 seasons, 17 effective ones, and it was just enough to edge Wilt for
No. 4 on my list.
|
Shaquille
O’Neal bio info
|
|
|
Career
|
1992-2011
|
|
Games
|
1,207
|
|
Points
|
23.7
|
|
Rebounds
|
10.9
|
|
Assists
|
2.5
|
|
FG Pct.
|
58.2%
|
|
All-Star games
|
15
|
|
NBA MVPs
|
1
|
|
NBA titles
|
4
|
|
Playoff seasons
|
17
|
|
Playoff games
|
216
|
|
Points
|
24.3
|
|
Rebounds
|
11.6
|
|
Assists
|
2.7
|
|
FG Pct.
|
56.3%
|
|
Hall of Fame
|
2016
|
|
Top 100
rankings
|
||
|
|
Points
|
Top 100 ranking
|
|
1-year
|
485.48
|
5th
|
|
5-year
|
2,058.05
|
5th
|
|
10-year
|
3,640.50
|
8th
|
|
Career
|
5,352.46
|
4th
|
|
Shaquille
O’Neal at his peak
|
|||
|
1999-2000
|
O’Neal
|
Top 5
|
Points
|
|
PER
|
30.6
|
26.56
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
18.6
|
14.76
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
9.7
|
7.17
|
|
|
VORP
|
9.3
|
7.20
|
|
|
Total Advanced Stats
|
68.2
|
55.69
|
122.46
|
|
Playoff PER
|
30.5
|
26.55
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
4.7
|
3.05
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
7.2
|
7.92
|
|
|
VORP
|
2.3
|
1.54
|
|
|
Total Advanced Stats
|
44.7
|
39.06
|
114.45
|
|
Reg. Season Win %
|
83.54
|
83.54
|
|
|
Playoff Win %
|
65.22
|
65.22
|
|
|
MVP Voting (75 points)
|
1,207/1,210
|
74.81
|
|
|
Playoff MVP (25 points)
|
25.0
|
25.00
|
|
|
Total Score
|
|
|
485.48
|
|
O’Neal’s 10 greatest seasons
|
|
|
1999-2000
|
485.48
|
|
2000-2001
|
439.49
|
|
2001-2002
|
430.43
|
|
1994-1995
|
355.92
|
|
1997-1998
|
346.73
|
|
2004-2005
|
334.46
|
|
2003-2004
|
326.61
|
|
2002-2003
|
319.90
|
|
1998-1999
|
303.91
|
|
1996-1997
|
297.58
|
|
Career
winning percentage
|
|||
|
|
W
|
L
|
Pct.
|
|
Regular Season
|
837
|
399
|
67.72%
|
|
Playoffs
|
129
|
87
|
59.72%
|
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