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Shaquille O'Neal is unquestionably one of the most dominant big men to ever grace the NBA. Of course, O'Neal was also a prominent member of the Los Angeles Lakers during his prime, striking up a fearsome partnership with the late, great, Kobe Bryant.
O'Neal's size, strength, and vindictiveness were all part of his game, which left opposing defenses quivering in their boots whenever they were tasked with trying to slow him down. At seven-foot-one, O'Neal was an imposing defender and ferocious rebounder on both sides of the floor, while his screening ability was second to none.
Regardless of your size, strength, or skill level, there is always more to learn, and people to learn from. While O'Neal may have been physically dominant and possessed an array of low-post moves, he could have easily improved his game by adding a baby hook or working on his free-throw shooting.
As it turns out, O'Neal had the opportunity to work with one of the greatest big men of all-time: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Apparently, the opportunity arose during O'Neal's time in college when he was playing for LSU. But his father didn't like that his son is learning from a player who didn't have the same physical skills as his son.
"I saw Kareem one day, he pulled me to the side, he said, Man, I've always want to talk to you. He told me a story that when he came to LSU to work with me, my father was like, f*** that you don't need no m*********** Kareem work by yourself."
"So he kind of took offense to that so he thought that and like I said, not the case brother so we got kind of shook and , we made up," O'Neal explained during a recent episode of The Ringer's Icons Club podcast.
Unfortunately, Shaq missed out on the opportunity to learn from a legend, and while the former Lakers big man went on to have a hall-of-fame career, you can't help but wonder what Abdul-Jabbar's influence could have done for O'Neal's career. Perhaps the New Jersey native would have become a reliable free-throw shooter, and the "hack-a-Shaq" strategy would never have been invented.
Or maybe the man known as "The Big Aristotle" would have found a deeper love for training and fulfilled his potential to become the greatest player of All-Time. Of course, we're re-writing history at this point, and what is done, is done. But, it's crazy to think that Shaq's father stopped his son from receiving a basketball education from one of the greats, not just in the sport of basketball, but at the center position.
Still, Shaq went on to play 1207 regular-season NBA games, averaging 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per night, so it's not like he suffered because of his fathers decision. Furthermore, O'Neal participated in 216 playoff games, averaging 24.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game which enable him to win four NBA championships, and three NBA Finals MVP awards.
Like it or not, maybe Shaq's father was on to something when he didn't let his son work out with the legendary Abdul-Jabbar.
Guess the Lakers players!
