Shaquille O’Neal led the NBA in shooting rate 10 times in 19 seasons, which was proof he couldn’t be moved from the low post by anything less than a bulldozer. That same resistance to outside forces explains how the Hall of Fame nominee managed to get through his first season as a pro without being subjected to rookie hazing.
Shaquille O’Neal could serve him
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Shaquille O’Neal’s career in the NBA has been notable for its durability and productivity. At 7 foot-1 and 325 pounds, he has averaged more than 34 minutes per game for his career, although he has appeared in more than 67 games only twice in his last 12 seasons.
O’Neal finished with 28,596 points and 13,099 rebounds for averages of 23.7 and 10.9 respectively. All that can be said against the 15-time NBA All-Star is that he was barely a 50% shooter on the free throw line. However, the durability and production from one man’s mountain more than made up for it.
Shaq grossed more than $ 292 million in NBA salary alone, supplemented by sponsorship funds and adventures in music and movies. And he had a lot of fun along the way, consistently demonstrating the sense of humor and playfulness he displays these days alongside Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith while working as an analyst on TNT. He has shown he can take a punch from his broadcast teammates and slaughter one as if it were just another day in his NBA career that ended with 4,146 personal fouls.
Shaquille O’Neal could be tough on the new guys
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A normal NBA regular season consists of 82 games. Throw on the training pitch, preseason games and a long run to the playoffs and it’s possible for these small groups of well-paid athletes to work and travel together for more than nine months of the year.
Traveling can be tiring, even with private jets and first-class accommodations, but it’s that time on the road that can truly form a team. Between training and games, there is a lot of downtime that kids spend together playing cards, watching TV, and otherwise killing time.
And there are always one or two rookies for the likes of Shaquille O’Neal to choose from. As is the case with other professional sports, veteran players are only too happy to show those first-year players who’s boss. There have been cases where hazing has gotten out of hand, but it’s generally good, clean fun.
Twelfth year guard Goran Dragic of the Miami Heat entered the league in 2008 as the Phoenix Suns second-round pick and proved to be one of that draft’s true wins. Back then, though, he was just a rookie and found himself subject to the whims of Shaq, who was 36 and in the twilight of his career.
The Hall of Fame center recently joined NBA journalist Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast, where he talked about what Dragic put up that season. O’Neal admitted that he turned Dragic into his personal delivery boy by making him always carry luggage and a bulky keyboard to Shaq’s hotel room while on the road.
The great man could not be veiled
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Goran Dragic, then a Phoenix Suns rookie and now in his second decade as a regular NBA player, was puzzled at the end of that first season because he often frequented a room next to Shaquille O’Neal’s room but never listened to music from the keyboard had dragged around.
“I asked him at the end of the season, ‘Hey Shaq, have you ever played on the keyboard?’ Dragic recalled on Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast. “He said no. ‘ I said, “Why not?” He said, ‘It doesn’t work. It’s broken. So, I had to wear this keyboard all season. And those were my rookie duties.’
O’Neal checked the story last week.
“If you can make fun of ‘The Shaq Man,’ then you can make fun of anyone. And look what I’ve created and how it’s playing. ‘
Interestingly, O’Neal never gave in to the pressure of hazing in his own rookie year with the 1992-93 Orlando Magic because he was able to instantly put 6-foot-1 guard Scott Skiles in his place.
“The first day I arrived, Scottie Skiles was like, ‘Get my bag, tower,'” O’Neal said on TNT. “I was like, ‘I don’t, I’m the franchise player.’ And I’ve never been offended. “
Broadcast partners Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith chimed in to say rookie hazing can help develop relationships between teammates.
“That’s why nobody likes you,” O’Neal joked.
“I’m not doing any of this,” O’Neal retorted.
All statistics courtesy of Basketball reference
