Shaquille Rashaun ONeal born March 6 1972 nicknamed Shaq is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program Inside the NBA on TNT Standing 7 ft 1 in 216 m tall and weighing 325 pounds 147 kg he is one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA Throughout his 18year career ONeal has used his size and strength to overpower opponents for points and rebounds After the retirement of Lindsey Hunter on March 5 2010 ONeal became the oldest active player in the NBA Following a standout career at Louisiana State University ONeal was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft He quickly became one of the top centers in the league winning Rookie of the Year in 199293 and later leading his team to the 1995 NBA Finals After four years with the Magic ONeal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers He won three consecutive championships playing alongside Kobe Bryant in 2000 2001 and 2002 ONeals relationship with Bryant eventually declined into a feud leading to ONeals trade to the Miami Heat in 2004 A fourth NBA championship followed in 2006 Midway through the 20072008 season he was traded to the Phoenix Suns After a seasonandahalf with the Suns ONeal was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers where he played alongside LeBron James in the 200910 season ONeal played for the Boston Celtics in the 201011 season ONeals individual accolades include the 199900 MVP award the 199293 NBA Rookie of the Year award 15 AllStar game selections three AllStar Game MVP awards three Finals MVP awards two scoring titles 14 AllNBA team selections and three NBA AllDefensive Team selections He is one of only three players to win NBA MVP AllStar game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year 2000 the other players are Willis Reed in 1970 and Michael Jordan in 1996 and 1998 He ranks 5th alltime in points scored 5th in field goals 12th in rebounds and 7th in blocks In addition to his basketball career ONeal has released four rap albums with his first Shaq Diesel going platinum He has appeared in numerous films and has starred in his own reality shows Shaqs Big Challenge and Shaq Vs Description above from the Wikipedia article Shaquille ONeal licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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