Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal is an American professional basketball player born in Newark, New Jersey on 6th March 1972. Currently, he is playing with Phoenix Suns team at the Center position with Jersey No.32. His height is 7 feet 1 inch (2.16 meters) and weight is 325 pounds (147 kg). He is also called as ‘Shaq’ and looked upon as one of the most dominant in the NBA history.

Shaquille led the Robert G. Cole High School team during his couple of years to a 68-1 record. After leaving high school, he attended Louisiana State University and studied business. In 1991, he was honored with the Adolph Rupp Trophy as the NCAA men’s basketball player of the year. On 3rd December 1990, he made the NCAA record of 17 blocks.

In the 1992 NBA Draft he was the first overall pick by the Orlando magic. For the season, his average was 23.4 points and 13.9 rebounds per game. Hence, he was named the 1993 NBA Rookie of the Year. In the second season, Shaquille had an average of 29.4 points and was leading the NBA in 60 percent field goal percentage. On 20th November 1993, Shaquille recorded the first triple-double in his career.

In the 1995-96 season, Shaquille was injured and missed 28 games. After this season, he abandoned Orlando Magic and joined Los Angeles Lakers as he was attracted by the seven year and 122 million USD contract.

In 1999, Shaquille along with Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to three continuous NBA titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. All the three times, Shaquille was named the most valuable player of the NBA finals.

On 14th July 2004, Shaquille was traded to the Miami Heat. He lost the 2004-05 most valuable player award to Steve Nash in one of the closest votes in NBA history. On 11th April 2006, Shaquille registered the second triple-double in his career against the Toronto Raptors. In the NBA playoffs of 2006, the Miami Heat won their first NBA championship. In the finals, the Heat beat Dallas Mavericks.

In the 2006-07 season, Shaquille had a right knee injury and missed about 30 games. In the same season, he completed 25,000 career points. In the process, he became the 14th player in the history of NBA to attain this record. In the 2007-08 season, he reached average career lows in blocks, rebounds and points. On 20th February 2008, Shaquille was traded to Phoenix Suns. In the debut match, he scored 15 points and 9 rebounds and his team won.

Major individual achievements

Shaquille has won four NBA championships. Of these one is with Miami Heat and three are with Los Angeles Lakers.
He won the gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
He won the gold metal in the 1994 Canada World Championships.