Random Greatest Shaq Career Highlights (20 items)

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  (#1) Shaq vs. Charles Barkley

  In an incident typically ranked with the NBA's most intense on-court fights, Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Brkley faced off during this Fall 1999 Lakers vs. Rockets game. Barkley had attempted to bounce the ball off of Shaq's head, which you should really avoid doing whenever possible.
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  (#2) 2000 NBA Finals

  In 1999, Phil Jackson joined the Los Angeles Lakers as head coach, and the success of his "triangle offense" (not to mention the presence of fellow All-Star Kobe Bryant), propelled Shaq and the team to the NBA Finals, and eventually to victory over the Indiana Pacers. It was the Lakers first championship since 1988, and the first championship of a 3-peat. Shaq was named MVP of both the Finals and the regular season.
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  (#3) 61 Points Against the Clippers

  The Lakers played against the Clippers on March 6, 2000, which also happened to be Shaq's 28th birthday. The game was considered a Clippers "home game," prompting Shaq to ask his crosstown rivals for some extra tickets for friends and family. The Clippers refused. Shaq responded by scoring a record 61 points against them that night, and also making some epic plays, including an infamous failed 3 pointer/alley oop pass to Kobe Bryant.
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  (#4) Crossover and Dunk Maneuver

  In this clip from an April 15th, 2002, Lakers vs. Sonics match-up, Shaq slips around Jerome James of the Sonics before connecting with the dunk. O'Neal would go on to score 41 points in the game.
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  (#5) Shatters Backboard During NBA Draft Combine

  While practicing at the 1992 NBA Draft Combine, Shaq made a dunk that shattered the glass on the backboard entirely. Fortunately, it was all caught on video for posterity. (He was 20 years old at the time). Shaq was selected first that year, and went to the Orlando Magic.
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  (#6) Dunking on David Robinson

  What more needs to be said? This clip from the 1996 All Star Game features O'Neal dunking over the top of NBA legend David Robinson. It's one of Shaq's most popular clips on YouTube.
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  (#7) Kazaam

  • Film

  Over the course of his career, O'Neal appeared in numerous films and TV shows. But none are more...erm...memorable than his turn as a rapping genie who emerges from an enchanted boombox in the 1996 comedy "Kazaam." The film was not well-reviewed nor received by audiences, and currently sits in the IMDb's "Bottom 100" for the lowest-ranked films in their index.

  Did they not even SEE the genie's freestyle rap intro?

  Like that one most embarrassing moment that happened to occur in front of every single one of your friends, this has come back as a way for people to lightheartedly make fun of Shaq for over a decade. While this isn't something to be proud of, at this point, it really isn't something to be that ashamed of either. Sure, his film career didn't quite take off, but he left the film community with two shining examples of exactly what not to do if you're a sports star trying to make your name in the movie business.

  Honorable Mention: And, of course, who can forget Steel (this is the highest res trailer that was available on YouTube).
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  (#8) Shaq Diesel

  • Band/Musician

  "Shaq Diesel" was the debut rap album from O'Neal, released in October of 1993. Shaq would release a total of 4 solo rap albums in total, followed by a compilation featuring his "Super Friends." He also guested on a number of popular hip-hop songs, such as the Fu Schnickens "What's Up Doc." "Shaq Diesel" spawned two singles - "(I Know I Got) Skillz" and "I'm Outstanding."
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  (#9) Shaq Fu

  • Video Game

  2D fighting game "Shaq Fu" was released for the Super Nintendo, Sega Game Gear, Nintendo Game Boy and Sega Genesis systems in the fall of 1994. Players control Shaq as he navigates an alternative dimension, attempting to rescue a young boy from the evil mummy Sett-Ra. The game was not a major success, and has been referred to as one of the Worst Fighting Games ever produced.
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  (#10) Tripped by Larry David

  Shaq guest starred in a Season 2 episode of the HBO comedy series "Curb Your Enthusiasm," titled, appropriately enough, "Shaq." In the show, "Curb" star Larry David gets courtside seats to a Laker game and accidentally trips O'Neal while stretching out. After discovering that the NBA star is a (real-life) big "Seinfeld" fan, David goes to the hospital to visit him and brings along a box set containing every episode. Hilarity ensues.
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  (#11) Kobe Freestyle

  In 2008, TMZ.com captured footage of Shaq in a New York City club freestyle rapping - in the rudest way possible - about his former teammate, Kobe Bryant. Included in the rap were insults about Bryant and the Lakers' recent loss in the NBA Playoffs as well as vitriol based on Bryant's infamous comments about Shaq's alleged womanizing. The highlight, of course, is Shaq's memorable rhetorical question for Kobe: "Tell me how my ass tastes."
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  (#12) Ali G Interview

  In 2005, TNT ran a series of basketball promotional spots in which comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's Ali G character visited the NBA and did sit-down interviews with popular athletes. During his chat with Shaq, Ali G debates the meaning of the term "NBA." Is it really the National Basketball Association? Or is that just Shaq's opinion?
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  (#13) Shaq on Snakebites

  During a post-game press conference, reporter Corby Davidson of The Ticket asked Shaq a bizarre question - if a snake bit his mother in the chest area, would he be willing to suck out the venom, if it meant his team would win the NBA Finals. Shaq responds by telling Davidson "I'd do it with your wife." The two men are friends, making this strange back-and-forth more along the lines of good-natured ribbing than creepy innuendo.
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  (#14) Alley-Ooping to Himself

  During a warm-up practice with the Boston Celtics, Shaq pulled off a rather impressive move, tossing the ball to himself and finishing with the alley-oop. A rare late career highlight from Wilt Chamberneezy, and a great excuse to later autograph the ball and drop-kick it into the crowd.
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  (#15) Conducting the Boston Pops

  After moving to Boston to play with the Celtics, Shaq participated in a number of public events and stunts in his new adopted city. Most memorable was his brief stint conducting the Boston Pops Orchestra in December of 2010, leading them in a performance of "Sleigh Ride" and Queen's "We Are the Champions." Of course, he wore a tuxedo.
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  (#16) Dubs Himself "The Big Aristotle"

  Shaq's had a lot of self-applied nicknames over the years. Examples include "Hobo Master" "Shaq", "The Diesel", "Shaq Fu", "The Big Daddy", "Superman", "The Big Agave", "The Big Cactus", "The Big Shaqtus", "The Big Galactus", "Wilt Chamberneezy", "The Big Baryshnikov", "The Real Deal", "Dr. Shaq" (after earning his MBA), "The Big Shamrock", "The Big Leprechaun", "Shaqovic." and "The Big Conductor." But we'll always remember him as "The Big Aristotle."

  Shaq chose the name for himself in 2000 because of his tendency to speak philosophically during interviews, and because he's a big fan of one Aristotle quote in particular: "Excellence is not a singular act, it's a habit"
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  (#17) Swearing on Live TV

  To be fair, Shaq let loose with profanity on live television on more than one occasion. But most memorable was this outburst following a 2004 Lakers victory over the Toronto Raptors. In a message intended for then-NBA Commissioner David Stern, Shaq argued that the officials were being too aggressive in calling fouls. Referring to the officials, he said "People pay good money to watch these athletes play; they're trying to take over the f**king game." The reporter then informed Shaq that the broadcast was going out live, to which he replied "I don't give a s**t."
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  (#18) Breaking Backboards

  Near the beginning of his career, Shaq broke the backboards in 2 separate games, against the New Jersey Nets (destroying the entire backboard) and then again in a game against the Phoenix Suns. These incidents eventually led to the NBA reinforcing the backboards, so these incidents are likely never to repeat again.
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  (#19) Warning Against Taco Neck

  In a series of ads for Taco Bell restaurants in the late 1990s, Shaq was depicted suffering from "Taco Neck," a disorder of the neck caused by tilting one's head sideways to eat lots of tacos. (Taco Bell suggests eating more burritos as therapy. Helpful!)
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  (#20) His Cameo on the Terminator 2 3D Ride at Universal Studios

  Shaq's inability to make a reliable free throw was quite a huge joke in the 90s, and even the creators of the Terminator 2 3D ride at Universal Studios Theme Parks decided to make light of it.

  In a pre-ride video which would show in the Japanese Universal Studios, as well as the parks in the United States, a pretty specific joke about Shaq's free throw was featured, which is a testament to how much of a pop culture icon Shaq really is.

  At about 1:30 into the video, a fake infomercial for the company that creates the artificial intelligence that destroys the world (Cyberdyne Systems), the "bright f*ture of tomorrow" is shown to us with certain examples of what technology can do for us.

  An old woman doesn't have to choose what she wants to watch (this is now true, actually), a mother can tuck her child in from across the globe and also, human error can be erased. The example of human error shown is of Shaq inserting a robotic lens into his eye and then being able to make the perfect free throw (at about 2:30 into the video).

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