Shaquille O’Neal is a Hall of Famer, a four-time NBA champion and a former MVP. He’s had a pretty solid basketball career. But if you ask Shaq, we never got to see the entirety of his basketball game.
Shaq joined The Vertical‘s Shams Charania for an interview, and he explained how the way teams played against him held him back from truly showcasing all that he was capable of in his NBA career.
He said:
“I only played 30 percent of my real game. 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.”
That 30 percent worked out OK. Shaq scored 28,596 points, hauled in 13,099 rebounds and blocked 2,732 shots in his career.