Shaquille O’Neal (Shaq) is widely regarded as one of the best players to ever step on a basketball court – he made a huge claim after a throwback video of him slyly smiling during rookie of the year announcement emerged.
The legendary center who is also an NBA Hall of Famer played for almost two decades in the NBA, turning out for franchises such as the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics – winning four NBA Championships.
Shaq’s reputation as a college student was always growing at Louisiana State University where he played for the Tigers, and it was no surprise to see him picked as the first overall pick of the 1992 NBA Draft. As the Orlando Magic drafted him, Shaq entered the NBA and began his dominance – and had a rookie year that most first timers would not even dare dream about.
Upon being drafted into the NBA by the Orlando Magic, O’Neal was named the Player of the Week in his first week in the NBA, the first player to do so. During his rookie season, O’Neal averaged 23.4 points on 56.2% shooting, 13.9 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game for the season. Shaq was named the 1993 Rookie of the Year and was the first rookie to be voted an All-Star starter since Michael Jordan in 1985.
While not many people expected Shaq to achieve the feat, the NBA Hall of Famer believed in himself – as he gave insights into his ambitions in his first season.
What did Shaq have to say about his rookie season?
Shaq recently went on air to talk about his mentality going into his rookie season.
Recently revisiting a video of Shaq being awarded the Rookie of the Year award, Shaq only said good things to say about a year that promised so much for the young O’Neal ahead. “I knew I was rookie of the year from game one, because it was my mission to let everybody know what was coming. I was not gonna take time off. I was gonna learn as quickly as I can, dominate as quickly as I can.”
Shaq certainly did, and dominated the league for a number of years to come.
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