SUMMARY
- Shaq wanted to surpass Wilt Chamberlain's points scored before retiring.
- O'Neal was unable to do so due to injury.
Shaquille O’Neal recently revealed how the end of his NBA career did not go as he would have expected. To those who might not know, Shaq is a former NBA superstar best known for his time with the Los Angeles Lakers. He won 4 championships throughout his career and is widely recognized as the most dominant force in the history of the league.
While there is no denying that Shaq had an illustrious career, it came to an end without him accomplishing something that he considered quite important. Since not a lot of fans will be privy to this information, let us take a closer look and find out more.
Shaquille O’Neal wanted to surpass Wilt Chamberlain before leaving the NBA
Although the majority of fans think Shaq was the most dominant player in the NBA, some of the older fans believe that Wilt Chamberlain still holds that title. Since Wilt played back in the 1960s and 70s, he never had a chance to face off against Shaquille O’Neal on the court.
During a recent interview with former NBA star JJ Reddick, Shaq was asked about the conclusion of his career and his feelings at the time. O’Neal got real with Reddick and went into detail.
“When I retired and I hate using the D word because a lot of people are depressed so let’s just say very sad. Cuz my plan was when I went to Boston was only one thing. I got to pass up Wilt Chamberlain and I had the whole thing. I had to average 9-10 points, I could do that I was doing that anyways…So I got hurt after Year 1.”
Shaq continued, “Cuz my plan was after I pass up Wilt Chamberlain, I was going to have a press conference and arrogantly say I don’t ever wanna hear nobody else’s fuckin name I’m the most dominant big man ever. But now you can say he has more points I have more championships. It’s subjective I’m fine with that. But if I would have passed him up in points wasn’t going to be no debate so I wanted to do that.”Wilt finished his career with 31419 points scored and is 7th on the all-time scorers list. On the other hand, Shaq’s injuries forced an early exit as O’Neal accumulated 28596 points before retiring. Now, some fans may wonder which of the two NBA legends was more dominant.
Comparing Shaq and Wilt’s stats
Before getting into the numbers, it is important to keep in mind that Shaq and Wilt played in very different eras of the NBA. The league had fewer teams and arguably lesser competition in Chamberlain’s time when compared to O’Neals. Shaq averaged 23.7 points and 10.9 rebounds throughout his career.
Wilt’s career numbers are significantly better at 30.1 points and a shocking 22.9 rebounds per game. These statistics certainly indicate that Chamberlain was much better in terms of rebounding and scoring. In any case, Shaq won more championships and had a more aggressive playing style. Therefore, he managed to take hold of the title as the most dominant player in NBA history.