Lakers

Shaquille O’Neal says he should have 8 NBA championship rings

Published by
Peter Dewey

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is a four-time champion, but he believes that he should have won even more during his career.

O’Neal explained during a podcast appearance why he “should have eight rings.”

“When you talk about great players, I had the opportunity to play with Bron (LeBron James), too,” O’Neal said. “I was so amazed at his leadership and how he played. When I was with him, I wasn’t the Shaq, but I was a good role player. We were first in our conference, played Boston, Big Baby (Glen Davis) broke my hand, I had to leave for six weeks. I tried to come back, but I wasn’t there, and we lost to Boston. These are things I think about when it comes to rings. I should have eight rings, and I’m not talking about free throws. I’m just talking about messed up opportunities.”

O’Neal won his first three titles during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers and legendary guard Kobe Bryant.

He won the Finals MVP award in each of those series, but the Lakers weren’t the first good team he played with.

Earlier in his career, O’Neal played with guys like Penny Hardaway and Horace Grant on the Orlando Magic, and the franchise knocked out the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs in the 1994-95 season after Michael Jordan returned from a hiatus where he spent time playing baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization. The Magic reached the NBA Finals in those playoffs.

While that Orlando team never went on to win a title, it started a chain of O’Neal playing with some pretty impressive players.

After his stint with the Lakers playing alongside Bryant, O’Neal went to Miami and played alongside Dwyane Wade.

With Wade, O’Neal and the Miami Heat won the 2006 NBA Finals over the Dallas Mavericks. Wade won the Finals MVP in that series, but O’Neal was still an impactful player, averaging 13.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in the series.

The 15-time All-Star didn’t end up winning another title during his NBA career, but he played with Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire on the Phoenix Suns, James on the Cleveland Cavaliers, then Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo on the Boston Celtics to close out his NBA career.

It just goes to show that more than talent is needed to win a title. Injuries, matchups and much more certainly factor into whether or not a team can capture a championship – as O’Neal would know from the four times he was able to win.

Peter Dewey

Peter is a graduate of Quinnipiac University where he covered the MAAC and college basketball for three years. He has worked for NBC Sports, the Connecticut Sun and the Meriden Record-Journal covering basketball, football and other major sports. Follow him on Twitter @peterdewey2.

Published by
Peter Dewey

Recent Posts

‘Wtf’: Trae Young reacts to Rashad McCants saying he could score 81 points like Kobe Bryant

Back in January of 2006, former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant put on one…

19 hours ago

Rashad McCants says he could’ve won ROTY but had a coach who was ‘shaking in the motherf——g huddle’

Former NBA guard Rashad McCants was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the last lottery…

20 hours ago

Chandler Parsons: Jaylen Brown would be best player on over half of NBA teams, including some playoff teams

The Boston Celtics were without maybe their top player for Wednesday's Game 2 versus the…

23 hours ago

‘Spo gonna Spo’: Cavs player gives Erik Spoelstra his flowers after Heat’s near-upset in Game 2

The odds were stacked against the Miami Heat to pick up a win in Game…

23 hours ago

Report: Will Campbell landing with Patriots may depend on whether team gets ‘fair deal’ to trade down

As a consolation prize for a woeful 2024 season that was marred by losing, the…

1 day ago

Report: ‘Most of the league’ has been contacted about Jalen Ramsey, including Rams, Lions and Eagles

Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey is one of the more notable players in the league…

1 day ago