Shaquille O’Neal has been regarded as the most dominant player in the history of the NBA. His bully-ball style of play is what made him so successful in an era of the best centers of all time. Shaq was willing to take a little bit of hurt and return it two-fold. That’s why his highlights are the most electrifying to watch.
Shaq’s antics off the court, his drive on the court, and his style of play made him recognized in his prime. However, apart from some of the ridiculous accolades, he’s racked up, this one stat remains above them all.
How many backboards did Shaq break?
In his 19 year NBA career Shaq has been an All-Star, NBA, and scoring champion. He’s been the DPOY, ROTY, and MVP. He’s scored 28,596 points and sits 8th on the all-time scoring list. And Shaq has unofficially broken 12.5 backboards and 2 of them live in an NBA game.
The first of those dunks came against the Phoenix Suns. Shaq jumped to rebound and force a put-back dunk. He hung on the rim for a second too long and the entire structural integrity of the basket gave way. However, this was not the worst one.
In another game against the Nets, Shaq received a pass near the baseline. He did his signature move of the ‘one bounce and make your way to the rim’ and got there. The dunk was contested but Shaq’s was stronger. Strong enough to separate the backboard and shot clock from the basket and almost fall over the diesel all through a dunk.
The NBA was forced to change the entire material that went into the making of these basketball hoops. His backboard-breaking dunks were so fierce that they brought about a change in the biggest league. This also forced the NBA to keep a backup hoop in every arena.
However, Shaq enjoyed this and after his retirement, he made a ‘tree’ of all the backboards he had broken in his career. Also, it was the single best way to describe his dominance in a picture.
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Shaq has passed his superman mantle on to Giannis Antetokounmpo. But is there any player that could cause the damage he caused in the NBA?