There have been many dominant forces in the NBA over the years. But two in particular stand out to Shaquille O’Neal.
Shaq spoke to GQ for a story on his health and fitness (h/t ESPN) that was published in late March. During the interview, he talked about the most dominant players in NBA history.
The Hall of Famer revealed that himself, along with another ascendant big man of his time, crack his list.
“It’s either me or Wilt [Chamberlain],” O’Neal told GQ. “I already passed Wilt in championships. When I signed a two-year deal with Boston, I was chasing that fifth ring to catch up with Kobe, but I was also chasing points to catch up with Wilt.
“When you say the best, there are 20 people—Dr. J, Magic, Kareem, Bill,” O’Neal continued. “It goes on. But when you say most dominant, there’s only two, so I’m happy.”
It’s hard to argue against Shaq in this instance.
Not only were he and Chamberlain two of the bigger men to ever play in the NBA (both 7-foot-1), but both have the individual stat sheets to back up their dominance.
Chamberlain is one of the most iconic players in league history, and his record 100-point game against the New York Knicks in 1962 will likely never be broken. The 15-time All-Star scored 31,419 career points, good for seventh on the all-time NBA list, and he ranks first in rebounds all-time with 23,924.
Based off of his numbers, Shaq was just as if not more dominant than Chamberlain. He’s eighth all-time in points (28,596) and top-10 in offensive rebounds (4,209), defensive rebounds (8,890) and blocks (2,732).
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