Shaquille O'Neal

A notoriously bad free-throw shooter, Shaq tries to get more of his points on the power slam. The hearty NBA centers now try to foul Shaq rather than give him the easy shot. Also, teams defend against him by spending MANY fouls and by covering him with a lot of fresh new bodies. Only Olajuwon really has the strength to stand toe to toe with him...and took a charge in the NBA Finals a few years back to prove it. He has been a fixture (definately immovable by his opponents) on both Dream Team II and III. Shaq had started every all-star game since his rookie year, except 1997 when he went as a backup to Olajuwon, but ended up not playing due to injury. His streak was broken in 2003, when Yao Ming started ahead of him, and once again in 2004 Shaq was on the bench backing up starter Ming. When Shaq moved East in 2005, he once again became an All-Star Starter, this time for the Eastern Team. He made his thirteenth all-star appearance in 2006 and tenth as a starter. He received the most votes in the east, and was the second leading vote getter of all time with 2,488,089, second only to Yao Ming's 2,558,278 in 2005 as well. In 1998 with the Lakers he once again started ahead of David Robinson, and he was the leading vote getter among all western conference starters in 2000 with 1,807,609 votes, again in 2001 with 1,541,298 votes and again in 2002 with 1,247,438 votes. He signed the richest contract in NBA history, 7 years for 120 million dollars with the LA Lakers on July 18, 1996, being lured away from the Magic. O'Neal has been thrice named to the All-NBA Third Team (1994, 1996 and 1997) with two selections to the NBA Second Team (1995 and 1999). In 1998 he was selected to his first All-NBA First Team. In 2000 he was also named to the All-NBA First Team, in one of the most dominating seasons in recent years by any player. He wasn't the MVP in 2001, but he did repeat as a member of the All-NBA First Team. He was also an All-NBA First Teamer from 2002-2006. He also has three All-Defensive Second Team selections under his belt, in 2000, 2001 and 2003. Shaq finally got his due in 2000, after winning the scoring title, he was also named as the League MVP. O'Neal won the award with the highest percentage of 1st place votes (99.2%) in league history, only one vote didn't go to him, and that went to Allen Iverson. Michael Jordan received 96.5% (109 of 113) of the 1st place votes in 95-96. Shaq was named to the All-Interview Second Team in 2001...not quite as good as being named MVP. He was named to the All-Interview First Team in 2002 and the All-Interview Second Team in 2004. Prior to the 2000-2001 season, the LA Lakers signed Shaquille O'Neal to a 3 year, $88.5 million contract extension. O'Neal is now signed through the 2005-06 season. Shaq is a three time world champion with the LA Lakers, but he failed in his bid in 2004 for another title, which led him to become even more disgruntled with the Lakers, and his relationship with Kobe intolerable. On July 14, 2004, the Lakers traded Shaq to the Miami Heat for Brian Grant, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and a future first round pick. On August 2, 2005 Miami re-signed Shaquille O'Neal to a 5 year, $100 million contract. O'Neal had opted-out of the last year of his old contract that would have paid him $30.6 million for 05-06.