LSU Hall of Famer and 15-time NBA All-Star Shaquille O’Neal will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, it was announced in Houston Monday, in advance of the NCAA men’s basketball National Championship game.
Regarded as one of the most dominant players in NBA history, O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion, played 19 years in the NBA after a three-year career at LSU under coach Dale Brown.
At LSU, O’Neal won the SEC Player of the Year twice, was All-American twice and was the National Player of the Year in 1992.
For his efforts while in Baton Rouge, a bronze statue of one of O’Neal’s glass-shattering dunks stands between the LSU basketball practice facility and gymnastics practice facility.
After becoming the No. 1 overall selection by the Orlando Magic in the 1992 NBA draft, winning NBA Rookie of the Year in his first season, O’Neal propelled the Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals, where it was swept by the Houston Rockets.
In the summer between his last year with the the Magic and his first year with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent signee, O’Neal was part of the U.S. Olympic Basketball team, where it won a gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Along with current Laker Kobe Bryant, O’Neal achieved NBA championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002. The 7-foot-1 center was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in all three series.
He also won the regular season league MVP award in 2000, which was also a season where he won the NBA scoring title for the second time in his career.
O’Neal was later traded to the Miami Heat in 2004 and garnered his fourth and final NBA championship ring in 2006. After being traded to the Phoenix Suns in 2008, O’Neal played with Cleveland Cavaliers before finishing his career with the Boston Celtics.
He collected 28,596 points, 13,099 rebounds and 2,732 blocks in his NBA career. O’Neal currently serves as an analyst on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” but also has a doctoral degree in education, has worked in law enforcement, starred in movies and television and released rap albums, among many other interests or ventures.
Other Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame soon-to-be inductees include former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, former Philadelphia 76ers point guard Allen Iverson, Houston Comets forward Sheryl Swoopes, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf.