O'Neal, Shaquille Rashaun

US basketball player. In 2000 he became only the third player in National Basketball Association (NBA) history to win the Most Valuable Player awards for the regular season, the All-Star game, and the NBA finals. He helped the Los Angeles Lakers win three successive NBA Championships 2000–02. He won a fourth NBA title with the Miami Heat in 2006.

Career highlights


NBA
regular season scoring: 26,286 points (average 25.2); play-off scoring: 5,121 points (average 25.2)

NBA Championship
2000, 2001, 2002, 2006

Olympic Games
gold 1996

World Championships
gold 1994

Awards


Most Valuable Player (regular season)
2000

Most Valuable Player (finals)
2000, 2001, 2002

Rookie of the Year
1993

He burst into the league in 1992 aged just 20 as a 2.16 m/7 ft 1 in giant, playing for the Orlando Magic. He won the NBA Rookie of the Year in his debut season and became the youngest player ever to feature in the NBA All-Star game. He led the Orlando Magic to their first NBA finals in 1995. In 1996 he joined the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent: the team was instantly revived and went on to win the 2000, 2001, and 2002 NBA Championships, and O'Neal was named the Most Valuable Player in each series. He moved to the Miami Heat in July 2004.