Shaq: 'I only played 30 percent of my real game'
Shaquille O'Neal is one of the most dominant big men to play the game of basketball.
He's a four-time champion, 15-time All-Star, one-time league MVP, and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday.
Still, he says there was much more to his game that we didn't get to see.
"I only played 30 percent of my real game," O'Neal told Shams Charania of 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.
"I had to focus on being the most powerful, dominant player to ever play the game."
Indeed, Shaq did dominate. Over his 19-year career, the 7-foot-1 center averaged 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.3 blocks while shooting 58.2 percent.
He has shown glimpses of that creativity and versatility in exhibition games:
But for the most part, "The Big Aristotle" was a traditional big, playing with his back to the basket and scoring inside. Shaq believes he, along with fellow 2016 inductee Yao Ming, are the last of a dying breed of true centers to be immortalized in Springfield, Mass.
"There won't be another one like me, and like Yao, ever again," O'Neal said. "We feel the dearth of the real center. I believe the way that I dominated, I made guys not want to come inside and feel the pain. That's why you have a lot of guys stepping out and shooting jumpers now.
"We're all products of our environment, so when I was coming up, I saw big men playing in the middle. The kids saw me playing and realized that they couldn't endure the pain and nor did they want to take the pain. So they started shooting jumpers - a la Dirk Nowitzki."
Related: Thomas, Erving, Russell, Mourning to induct Shaq into Hall of Fame