In honor of #Shaqweek and Shaq's induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame later this week, the NBA released an "Ultimate Career Mixtape" of the MDE. It's good, but 4 and a half minutes is barely long enough to just show Shaq's dunks...on All-Star centers...in an Orlando uniform.
Speaking of Orlando, here's a mixtape (below) I made of Shaq about 12 years ago, featuring mainly dunks and commercials from his time in the Magic Kingdom. A time when he was at his most athletic and (most people will disagree with this) most all-around on the offensive end. During his Magic days, it was a common sight to see Shaq going coast-to-coast and dishing it to a teammate for a dunk, taking AND MAKING turnaround jump shots, shooting 70%+ at the free throw line and I can even recall a couple of made jump shots from about 10 feet out.
So what happened?
“I only played 30 percent of my real game,” O’Neal recently told The Vertical. “I had a great career, but I didn’t get a chance to showcase what I can really do. That’s because the double- and triple-teams were coming so quick, I had to dominate, dominate, dominate inside. I had the ability to step out, go around defenders, dribble by people, but I never got to show that."
And here's the full version of my favorite dunk from the NBA mixtape; it's not my favorite because of the poster but because of how Shaq treats Dudley after the poster.