One of the biggest men in the NBA when it comes to size and dominance just made another revelation that can make NBA fans’ jaws drop. Shaquille O’Neal, while talking to NFL legend Tom Brady on the ‘Let’s Go’ podcast, admitted that he weighed an unbelievable 415 pounds. This was just before the Los Angeles Lakers won their third consecutive title in 2002 with Shaq.
O’Neal weighed around 315 pounds for all of his Lakers triumphs. But he was actually well over 400 pounds by the time he was vying for his third title in 2002. Shaq was asked by Brady about what his weight was when he started off after college with Orlando, to which the big man replied, “I started as 285 in Orlando. But they started hack-a-Shaq with me early so I started lifting weights and then I was 300 and then 315.”
Shaquille O’Neal says that he weighed 415 pounds during the Lakers’ championship run in 2002 🤯
He was listed at just 325 pounds that season.
(via @SIRIUSXM)pic.twitter.com/cauQtsj5uF
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 28, 2023
He further went on to add, “When Phil Jackson came and we won the first championship, I was 345. Then I had a great summer and came back 385 for the second one. Last championship I was 415.” In the 2001–02 season, O’Neal weighed 325 pounds, according to major sources at the time. That raises a big question here. O’Neal stated that he did not begin to shed weight until he was traded to the Miami Heat.
Did Shaquille O’Neal’s weight affect his performance on the court?
There was no time in his career when The Diesel’s weight was a problem for him. He was always as explosive as he used to be. Shaq moved from Orlando to Los Angeles and won three NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. However, it was reported that while playing with the Lakers, O’Neal and Kobe Bryant explicitly fought over Shaq’s weight.
Kobe believed they could have been even better if Shaq had heeded his conditioning advice. For some reason, O’Neal didn’t feel the need to lose weight until he was traded to Miami, where he would go on to win his fourth and final championship with Dwyane Wade.
19 seasons, four championships, six teams, the NCAA All-Time Blocks Leader, having his number 32 retired by LSU. All that and having a bronze statue in his honor outside the university are all enough to make O’Neal a legend.