Shaq Talks Back

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Shaquille O’Neal is one of the best basketball players in history. He published an autobiography called Shaq Talks Back. When he played the game of basketball, It was easy to him. He could easily score whenever he wanted too, and got a lot of rebounds. He could a be a funny person, but could also be serious when in game. Shaquille O’Neal inspires me because I love to watch him play. He changed how the sport of basketball was played and the funny thing is he didn’t shoot three pointers. He was a post player and changed the post game with his drop steps and disrespectful dunks on people. Shaquille O’Neal stood as 7’1” and was 324 pounds, so he was a big guy and he was very difficult to guard and try to stop. Shaquille O’neal was one the NBA’s …show more content…

He signed the largest rookie contract in the history of sports being forty-one million for seven years. He had won Rookie of the Year in 1992. He went to the finals in 1995 losing to the Houston Rockets. When Shaq was a free agent, he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers with young star Kobe Bryant. “The last time any of their sports teams had won a title was back in 1988, when the Lakers beat the Pistons in the finals and the Dodgers won the World Series (O’Neal 57). Shaq thought the Lakers were good, but needed a little more help to win a championship. He ended up winning three championships with the Lakers in 2000, 2001, 2002. “When I looked out on the crowd, all of the sudden it hit me: We were Champions.” (O’Neal 245) Shaq was very excited he had won and started crying tears of joy. In 2000, the Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers in a 4-2 series. In 2001, the Lakers beat the Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers in a 4-1 series. In 2002, the Lakers beat the New Jersey Nets in a 4-0 series. Shaq was the Final’s MVP in all three of these finals. He was traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler, and a first-round pick in 2004. He won a championship in Miami in 2006 with Dwyane Wade. He then traded to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. The next season he was then traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, and second-round …show more content…

Shaq is one of my favorite players to ever play. It was fun to watch him because he was such a dominant player. He has four championship rings, three Finals MVP, and league MVP in 2000. He was a fifteen time All-Star and was on All-NBA first team eight times in his amazing career. His number was also retired on two teams. His number thirty-four was retired on the Los Angeles Lakers and his number thirty-two was retired on the Miami Heat. He is also eighth all-time in scoring, fourteenth all-time in rebounding, and eighth all-time in blocks in NBA history. Shaquille inspires me to do the best I can, even if you don’t have a lot of money. Shaq managed to become a superstar even though he grew up poor and didn’t have many friends. He went through many injuries in his life, such as his knee injury in 2006. He was also the worst free-throw shooter in NBA history. He was so bad that players fouled him on purpose just to send him to the free-throw line. They called it Hack-A-Shaq. He is one of my idols that I look up to and I give him all the respect in the

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