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Shaq arrives in Seoul, ranks himself 2nd best center of all-time

August 20, 2015
Former NBA MVP Shaquille O'Neal embraces a South Korean fan as he takes part in a publicity event in Seoul on Aug. 20, 2015, to meet his South Korean fans. The retired center is in Seoul as a pitchman for an athletic footwear and apparel company. (Yonhap)

Former NBA MVP Shaquille O’Neal embraces a South Korean fan as he takes part in a publicity event in Seoul on Aug. 20, 2015, to meet his South Korean fans. The retired center is in Seoul as a pitchman for an athletic footwear and apparel company. (Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — Shaquille O’Neal, one of the most dominant and imposing centers ever to play in the NBA, is fully aware of his place in the history of the league.

Asked to rank himself among the league’s great centers, the former league MVP and four-time champ rated himself at No. 2.

“Bill Russell, me, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Hakeem Olajuwon,” O’Neal reeled off the names during his recent trip to Seoul Thursday to promote an athletic footwear and apparel company.

Better known as simply Shaq, O’Neal boasts career averages of 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game over 19 seasons. The first overall pick with the Orlando Magic won the 1993 Rookie of the Year and later the 2000 regular season MVP. He won three titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and his fourth with the Miami Heat.

His numbers stack up well against any of the great big men that had come before him. Russell, who won 11 championships and five MVPs for the Boston Celtics in the 1950s and 1960s, is considered the best defensive center ever. He ranks second all-time, behind Chamberlain, in total rebounds.

Chamberlain still holds the record for most points in a game with 100. Abdul-Jabbar, who was at the center of the Los Angeles Lakers’ heyday in the 1980s, is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points

Olajuwon won two championships with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995, the second one over O’Neal’s young Magic team. Olajuwon won the Finals MVPs in both years and also grabbed the regular season MVP honors in 1993-1994 season.

All four centers but Shaq are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and O’Neal is a sure bet to join them once he becomes eligible next year, following a mandatory five-year waiting period from retirement.

O’Neal was also asked to name the five greatest players, at any position, but didn’t include himself.

“Michael Jordan, Dr. J (Julius Erving), Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Bill Russell,” he said, naming five Hall of Famers.

O’Neal reiterated his earlier point that in a hypothetical one-on-one match between Jordan and LeBron James, the closest contemporary equivalent to MJ, he would take a younger Jordan every time.

“Michael is still probably the best ever,” O’Neal added.

Looking back on his illustrious career, O’Neal said getting swept by Olajuwon and the Rockets in the 1995 NBA Finals might have been a blessing in disguise.

“I was a young guy and didn’t know how to win yet,” said O’Neal, whose teammates included up-and-coming star Anfernee Hardaway and veteran Horace Grant. “Before you succeed, you have to fail. I learned how to become a champion. I went to the Finals five times after that and won four titles. So I am happy.”

After all these years, just who was the toughest player that Shaq faced?

“Nobody,” O’Neal said with a grin.