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It’s always interesting to see what the NBA’s all-time greats think of themselves, isn’t it? Michael Jordan won’t officially come out and say it but he’s long told plenty of people how much better he was than them. LeBron James has zero problem calling himself the greatest player of all time. Kobe Bryant knew he could get in people’s heads and constantly reminded them of his skills. But exactly how does Shaq think of himself? Well, we now have somewhat of an answer.

In response to an Instagram post, Shaquille O’Neal revealed where he’d put himself on a list of the top 10 all-time greats in the NBA.

Shaquille O’Neal’s NBA career

Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most dominant players in NBA history. Over the course of 19 NBA seasons with six teams, Shaq averaged 23.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game and accrued an amazing list of accolades.

He won the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1993 with the Orlando Magic and led them to the NBA Finals in his third year. He signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996 and went on to win the NBA MVP in 2000 and three consecutive NBA titles, winning Finals MVP in each series. He won a fourth title with the Miami Heat in 2006.

Shaq was a 15-time NBA All-Star, a three-time All-Star Game MVP, a 14-time All-NBA selection (8 First Team, 2 Second Team, 3 Third Team), a two-time scoring champion, and a three-time All-Defensive selection. He ended his career with 28,596 points, good for eighth on the all-time scoring list. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

Shaq is included in a top-10 list of the NBA’s all-time greatest players

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PLEASE READ ⬇️ I know most of you think magic and Kareem are too low and Hakeem bird Duncan are all too high but if you put magic and Kareem 3 and 4, you’re very wrong, the media shoves then down your throats but they only won their rings because they were on an incredibly stacked team with 3 other elite players, Magic was an awful defender and had to rely on 2 DPOYs on his team to win a chip, and was an okay scorer. Kareem couldn’t win without one of the most stacked teams ever behind him, and only was the best player on 2 of his 5 rings. On the other hand, Duncan had one of the best finals runs ever in 03’ and had to fight his way with no other stars on his team to win his ring, and was an all time great defender and scorer/IQ player. Hakeem had 2 rings with 0 help at all, absolutely carried his team to his rings and provided some of the best value ever. Also was incredibly skilled for a center at the time and the best defender ever. Bird also had little help for a long time, was one of the best shooters ever, great rebounder, good passer, and amazing defender. All 3 are SOO underrated all-time it’s insane. Just hearing the flashy names of Magic and Kareem a lot of people are too quick to put them 3 and 4, but this is just so wrong and the media just feeds you that, look further then what the media says and look at the stats and history of the players. Duncan Hakeem and bird all had some of the greatest finals runs ever, and all are some of the best 2 way players ever. They don’t need any help to carry a team on their back and win a ring. All 3 are better than magic and Kareem and that’s the truth. If you disagree, give me some reasoning below!

A post shared by Nba Analyst (@nbachemistry) on

On March 26, 2020, Instagram user @nbachemistry posted a list of who he thought were the top 10 players in NBA history and it’s obviously quite the list. He gave explanations on why certain players were placed where they were as these types of lists are naturally going to bring arguments and comments on why it’s right or why it’s not. With Michael Jordan at the top, this is how the list played out.

  1. Michael Jordan
  2. LeBron James
  3. Hakeem Olajuwon
  4. Larry Bird
  5. Tim Duncan
  6. Kobe Bryant
  7. Magic Johnson
  8. Shaquille O’Neal
  9. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  10. Bill Russell

There are certainly plenty of discussions to be had there but it’s certainly an amazing list of players. Every single player on that list has won multiple NBA titles and at least one Most Valuable Player award. So how did Shaq himself react to the post?

Shaq reacts to the list

The list certainly made the rounds, racking up close to 400,000 likes in 24 hours. ESPN analyst jumped in the conversation, saying that there was no way he’d put Hakeem Olajuwon ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And even Shaquille O’Neal himself jumped in, saying he had no problem with the list, although he’d move it around just a little bit.

Sitting at eighth, the same place he sits on the all-time scoring list, Shaq said he wasn’t mad at the list but would actually move himself down a couple of notches to the 10th spot, which seems to indicate that although he might not see himself above Kareem or Russell, he does still consider himself a top-10 player in NBA history.

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Luke Norris

Luke Norris began his sportswriting career in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2020. The former Section Editor of the NFL and Motorsports sections, he now spends his time here in the role of Senior Writer-Programmer. His well-rounded sports knowledge allows him to cover the NFL, NBA, PGA Tour, MLB, boxing, WWE, and NASCAR for Sportscasting.

Luke is an avid golfer who finds inspiration in the way sports can bring people together and provide a distraction from the real world. He hopes to provide a little entertainment or an escape from the real world with every article he writes, even if only for a few minutes.

In addition to his work here at Sportscasting, Luke’s work has appeared on  The Sportster, Inquisitr, GiveMeSport, FanSided, Yahoo! Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated.