Tag: shaquille o’neal

Shaquille O’Neal says LeBron James would be the GOAT if he becomes highest scorer in NBA history

This is how Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James would be the GOAT of the NBA, according to Shaquille O’Neal.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has accomplished just about anything one player can in the NBA.

Through 19 years in the league, James has accumulated four NBA titles, four NBA Finals MVPs, four regular-season MVPs, 17 All-Star appearances and 13 All-NBA first-team selections among his accolades.

READ: Lakers’ LeBron James reacts to making NBA 75th Anniversary Team

And he is on pace to collect more achievements.

James is third in NBA history in total points scored with more than 35,000. He trails Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has 38,387 and Karl Malone, who has 36, 928.

If James surpasses both NBA legends, Shaquille O’Neal, an NBA and Lakers legend himself, said James would be the GOAT of the league, via Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times:

“He’s got four rings and he becomes the highest scorer in the NBA history. He’s the best ever,” O’Neal said. “Ain’t nothing you can say.

O’Neal said James can hit that goal in about two seasons:

“I know what he’s doing,” O’Neal said while eating some roast beef. “Championships are great, but he’s trying to pass Kareem up. That’s what he is doing. I know exactly what he’s doing. ‘Cause now if you pass Kareem up, it ain’t no talk about who the best player ever is. Think about that? I saw he needed to average (25) points or something like that the next few years, which he will do. He can do that in two more years.”

Here’s a closer look at the games needed for James to become No. 1, via Fox Sports:

If he stays healthy and continues to score an average of 27 points per game, he could surpass Malone in about 71 games and Abdul-Jabbar in 124. That means a healthy LeBron could hold the all-time scoring record within the next two seasons.

Through two games this season, James is already averaging 29.5 points. He’ll have to stay healthy to have a shot, though, because two of his last three seasons have been derailed with injuries.

James already boasts a resume arguably worth being deemed the NBA’s GOAT, but becoming the leading scorer in history would pad it even further.

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18 Lakers selected to NBA 75th Anniversary Team

The Los Angeles Lakers had 18 players, both current and former, selected to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.

The 2021-22 NBA season marks the 75th anniversary of the league, which is an astonishing milestone for any league.

To celebrate, the NBA has been acknowledging legends of the game both current and former in a variety of ways.

For the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, the league named 75 of the league’s best players in batches of 25.

The Los Angeles Lakers had 18 players make the list. For a franchise with such a rich history, being one of the most represented teams on the list was expected.

LeBron James was among those selected, and he shared his reaction to the news on Twitter.

From James and more, here is the full list of Lakers that made the team:

12 Lakers make USA TODAY’s Top 75 players in NBA history list

See where 12 members of the Los Angeles Lakers ranked in a list of the NBA’s Top 75 players in history.

The 2021-22 season will mark the NBA’s 75th anniversary of the league, which is a phenomenal achievement for any sporting league to have.

Throughout the league’s founding, there have been so many incredible talents that fans have grown to revere across decades and generations.

With it being the 75th season, the league will be spending time honoring its past and iconic players of the present.

That will certainly be the case for the Los Angeles Lakers. With a roster comprising LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and other future Hall of Famers, L.A.’s reputation for being a household place of talent lives on.

To honor the best players the league has seen, USA TODAY compiled a ranking of the top 75 players. Let’s look at where members of the Lakers ranked (paid subscription required):

HoopsHype lists 16 Boston Celtics on their projected 75 greatest players list

16 Celtics alumni make the cut for HoopsHype’s projected 75 greatest players list for the NBA’s 3/4 century celebratory accounting.

Not to be left out of the NBA’s 75th anniversary list creation extravaganza gripping the league’s wider media sphere, our sister site HoopsHype assembled a list of their own 75 greatest players of all time building off of (and cutting a few of) the NBA 50 greatest players list released for the Association’s 50th anniversary.

Given that the initial official list was, shall we say, a little generous to some and not as much as others perhaps warranted, we expected some players — including Boston Celtics alumni — to not make the cut of a list that was heavily dominated by the team in green and white.

They include Bill Walton, Sam Jones, Dave Bing, and Bill Sharman.

Shaquille O’Neal calls out Sixers star Ben Simmons for his holdout

Shaquille O’Neal calls out Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons for his current holdout.

The Philadelphia 76ers and 25-year old All-Star Ben Simmons are currently in a stalemate as the Simmons is holding out in hopes of getting a trade done sooner rather than later. The Sixers are two days into training camp and Simmons has not yet reported to the team.

This has been a long, drawn-out affair that has turned ugly after Simmons had another poor playoff performance. He averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 assists, and 7.9 rebounds in the playoffs which looks good on paper, but when one factors in him shooting only 34.2% from the foul line and he still refuses to take any jump shots, there is a reason why Philadelphia is looking to move him.

However, one Hall of Famer believes that Simmons is going about his trade request the wrong way. Shaquille O’Neal joined CBS Sports Network’s Tiki and Tierney and said this about Simmons (h/t CBS Sports):

“One, he’s not showing up. As a player, you have to be able to be real with yourself,” O’Neal said during a recent appearance on CBS Sports Network’s Tiki and Tierney. “You need to be aggressive and he definitely got exposed last year in the playoffs, he didn’t want to shoot.

“You have to look in the mirror and say ‘Am I as good as I can be?’ He’s going about it all wrong,” O’Neal added. “He could have gone into the office, say ‘hey, my feelings are hurt. You guys didn’t stick up for me. I’d like to professionally ask for a trade.’ The question is, does anyone want him? I’m not paying $200 million for a guy who will not be aggressive and will not shoot in playoff time.”

O’Neal is in the right here when it comes to Simmons. The guy is obviously talented, but he also does not show up when the time calls for it. He has continuously come up small in the playoffs and he and the Sixers need to move on and find different scenery.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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How many of the NBA’s official 50 greatest in 1996 were Boston Celtics?

In 1996, the NBA released a list of its 50 greatest players up to that year to celebrate as many years of play as a league. Can you guess them all?

In 1996, the NBA decided to assemble a panel of 50 players, media members, and team representatives in total to select the 50 greatest players of the league’s first 50 years on the anniversary of the NBA’s first season of 1946-47.

The league again plans to assemble a similar list to honor the 75th anniversary of its foundation in 2021, but before we begin to speculate which alumni of the Boston Celtics will be added to the list, let’s take a look at the old one. Dominated by names once populating the championship eras of the team from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, a total of 14 of the NBA’s 50 greatest players once donned the green and white.

Let’s review who made the cut, and when they were Celtics.

Shaquille O’Neal says it’s championship or bust for the Lakers this season

The Los Angeles Lakers have to win it all this season given the experience on the roster, says Shaquille O’Neal.

The Los Angeles Lakers have high expectations this season given the additions to the roster.

With notable stars and veterans Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza and more joining LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers have to make a championship run this season.

Most of the players L.A. signed are on one-year deals, and since the James and Davis championship window isn’t as wide open anymore, Los Angeles has to capitalize on winning this year.

Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal is on the same page. O’Neal appeared on ESPN’s “First Take” hosted by Stephen A. Smith and explained why:

“The great Carmelo Anthony was absolutely correct. … When it comes to the most experience, the Brooklyn Nets and the Lakers have the most experience when it comes to age. I’m not worried about all that young talk. … If both teams stay healthy, I would like to see those teams in the finals. I like Carmelo, he was raised by us. Westbrook was raised by us. LeBron was raised by us. So you know when they get angry, they play very well. So now they’re angry, everyone’s doubting them, they built this little superteam, Carmelo Anthony is correct. It’s championship or bust.”

As O’Neal mentioned, staying healthy is the most crucial part for L.A. if it hopes to win a title. Injuries completely derailed the Lakers’ 2020-21 campaign, and the team cannot afford for that to happen again.

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Shaquille O’Neal on the Bulls: ‘Chicago Bulls gonna make some noise’

Shaq is a big believer in the Bulls for the 2021-22 season.

Nothing that Shaquille O’Neal does or says is small.

When he speaks, like his counterpart Charles Barkley on ‘Inside The NBA’, it usually comes with a splash.

On Wednesday, Shaq appeared on ‘First Take’ where he told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that the new-look Chicago Bulls are ready to ‘make some noise.’

“The Chicago Bulls gonna make some noise. They’re making a lot of noise finally, yes,” O’Neal said.

Now, Smith didn’t necessarily negate Shaq’s statement, but he shifted the focus to his New York Knicks, which O’Neal quickly laughed at.

On Tuesday, ESPN predicted that the Bulls would finish tied for the No. 8 seed in the East with a 40-42 record.

Check out the full clip below via Stephen A.’s Twitter.

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Dunk guru goes behind-the-scenes for Hamidou Diallo’s dunk contest

The person who helped Hamidou Diallo put together his slam dunk contest plan and elbow dunk over Shaq took his Instagram followers behind the scenes.

To be an NBA dunk contest champion, you need insane athletic ability. Maybe powerful slams come in handy. Perhaps it’s just some creativity.

There are people available to help with the third. Perhaps none are better known around the industry than Chuck Millan, a “dunk guru” who has helped dunkers become champions for years. He has worked with the likes of Zach LaVine, Derrick Jones Jr. and Donovan Mitchell, prepping them for the best and most creative dunks possible.

He posted a video to Instagram going behind the scenes of Hamidou Diallo’s 2019 dunk championship and how they set up the dunk over Shaquille O’Neal.

“We got to work in Miami,” Millan narrated in the video.

 

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Clips showed Diallo working with former Thunder player Victor Oladipo and professional dunker Will Bunton. He caught alley-oops, jumped over items and got prepared for the tasks Millan would set for him.

“This dude’s legs aren’t real, so he can pretty much do whatever dunk I tell him to do,” Millan said.

Interspersed through the video are clips of Diallo dunking that have not been widely shared. They’re taken from the gym with him practicing and getting comfortable dunking over different objects.

Diallo didn’t understand what the point was. It seemed like Millan was not living up to his title.

“He’s like, ‘Chuck, why am I jumping over weird shit? This isn’t gonna get high scores. You’re gonna get fired. I’m gonna lose,'” Millan recalled.

“I said, ‘Nah bro, you’re gonna do an elbow dunk over Shaq and you’re going to win the dunk contest.'”

The rest is history.

Shaquille O’Neal calls out Sixers star Ben Simmons

NBA legends Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley called out Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons on Thursday.

Philadelphia has been dealing with Ben Simmons buzz and trade rumors since the James Harden saga before his eventual trade to the Brooklyn Nets last season.

This offseason the relationship between the team and Simmons has deteriorated to the point where each side is looking for a trade out of Philly. Simmons is also threatening to sit out of training camp while he waits for the signal to hop on the next flight out of town.

NBA legends Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley had some words to say on the situation and let their opinions fly on The Big Podcast with Shaq Thursday. They were not exactly singing Simmons’ praises.

“Ben Simmons you’re not that good,” O’Neal said, flatly.

O’Neal said he was at Game 6 against the Atlanta Hawks when Simmons passed up an open shot for a pass, leading to just one point at the free-throw line.

“That man was out there terrified,” O’Neal said. “Not terrified of playing, but terrified of being fouled and missing free throws. Forget all that.”

Barkley said he was “disappointed” in the forward, after failing to develop a competitive jump shot.

“When you give somebody $200 million to dribble a stupid basketball, and the only thing you asked him was to be better as a player, and their first response is ‘I don’t wanna play here anymore,’” Barkley said. “That disappoints me as a player, it disappoints me as a fan.”

In 275 career NBA regular-season games, Simmons has attempted 34 three-pointers and has hit just five. He is a career 14.7% three-point shooter, hitting all of his career shots from beyond the arc in the last two seasons. For comparison, he has sunk nearly 1800 shots from inside the line, at a 56.4% clip.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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