Shaquille O’Neal is an American professional basketball player, rapper and actor and born on March 6, 1972 at Newark, New Jersey. And generally he is popularly known as “Shaq“. In fact, he is the most leading players and admirable athlete in the history of NBA (National Basketball Association).
In Linton Middle School, O’Neal gained his first recognition as a star. During his two years, he made a record of 68-1 guided by his previous school team of San Antonio, Texas. After this, he again made a state record with 791 rebounds during 1989 session. He had completed his graduation in Business from Louisiana State University (LSU), where he was the member of the Omega Psi Psi.
During that time, he met Dale Brown, men basketball coach of LSU and he started playing with Brown. In a short period of time, he had received Adolph Rupp Trophy as NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) men basketball player in the year 1991. Besides, on December 3, 1990, he holds NCAA record for blocked shots in the game with 17 blocks against Mississippi State.
To continue his NBA career, O’Neal left LSU earlier and received a Bachelor of Arts in General Studies. Later on, he inducted into the LSU Hall Of Fame, where he gain recognition as the member of athletic program who have made a long-lasting impact on the university.
Orlando Magic has drafted him as the 1st overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. Before getting this draft, he spent a major amount in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Hall of Farmer Magic Johnson during summer. On 1995-96 sessions, he was injured and missed 28 games. On an average, he made 26.6 points per game, completed the All NBA 3rd Team and afterwards he made his 4th All Star Game. He has scored the maximum point of 25 points and taken 10 rebounds.
After this season, he left the Orlando Magic to join Los Angeles Lakers after being attracted by 7 year of $121 million contract. This announcement was made in Atlanta at the 1996 Summer Olympics. There he joined as a young squad and recently he returned to the playoffs. He had missed number of games in 1995-96 seasons when he was injured and his team-mates were faced difficulty with the main points of the offence.
In addition, on 1999-2000 regular seasons, he was voted as one of the most precious player and first common MVP (Most Valuable Player Award) in NBA history. On the same year, he won the scoring title while concluding seconds in rebounds and third in blocked shots.
To get an impression, he holds a basketball camp on the campus of Louisiana State University which is challenged by LSU alumnus and present Boston Celtics player , Glen “Big Baby” Davis on summer of 2001, where he weighing 350lb (160kg;25 st) and lifted and he got knocked down to the ground. In January 2002, he was suspended for 3 games without pay and given a fine of $15000.
Recently, Shaq won 4 NBA Championship in which 3 was with Los Angeles Lakers along with Miami Heat. Currently he is playing at centre for the Phoenix suns.
