Shaq is a basketball icon. He was the first pick in the 1992 NBA Draft and in 1993 he became the first rookie to be voted as an All-Star since Michael Jordan in 1985, and he was also named Rookie of the Year. Shaq reached his first NBA finals in the 1994-95 season with Orlando Magic in a 4-0 loss to the Rockets.
In 1996, he became an Olympic gold medallist with the United States Olympic basketball team, and became a free agent before moving to the Los Angeles Lakers on a seven-year, $121 million deal. He became MVP in 2000 and, alongside Kobe Bryant, the Lakers won three consecutive Championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. He left for the Miami Heat in 2004 after a fallout with general manager, Mitch Kupchak, and tension between O'Neal and Bryant regarding money.
In his first season with the Heat, O'Neal made his 12th consecutive All-Star team, and took a pay cut before winning his fourth championship in the 2005-06 season. His career spanned 19 years and was unfortunately plaqued by injury and controversy, but O'Neal still managed to become an all-time great in the NBA. He retired in 2011 after short spells with the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Boston Celtics.
Off the court, he is known as one of the biggest personalities and is very successful, with a net worth of $400 million. And when he was asked which current NBA players could survive in the era, which included him and Michael Jordan, he could only name five.
Shaquille O'Neal's Five Picks
Anthony Edwards
Anthony Edwards Timberwolves
Anthony Edwards is the shooting guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves and, like O'Neal, he was the number one overall draft pick. Edwards became the third-youngest player to score 40+ points, scoring 42 in a game against the Phoenix Suns, and in the 2022-23 season, he made the All-Star team for the first time as a reserve on Team LeBron. In the 2024-25 season, he was the three-point scoring leader, reaching the seventh-highest threes in NBA history with over 300. He is also an Olympic gold medallist, winning with Team USA in 2024. He may not have the accolades of some other people on this list, but there is still a long career ahead of Ant-Man that could see him become an NBA great.
LeBron James
LeBron James
Probably the most obvious inclusion on the list, LeBron is one of the greatest of all time and has a CV that can only be matched by the all-time greats. He is a four-time NBA Champion, a four-time MVP, and a 21-time NBA All-Star, being selected in the team every year since 2005. He is a three-time Olympic gold medallist, and he holds the record for the most minutes played in NBA history. Just like O'Neal, he is also successful off the court, becoming the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, and in the 2016 season, he became the highest-paid NBA player, signing a $100-million, three-year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron James's career highlights as of 24/06/25 (selected)
Accolades
NBA Championship
NBA Finals MVP
NBA MVP
NBA All-Star
NBA All-Star Game MVP
All-NBA First Team
All-NBA Second Team
All-NBA Third Team
Kevin Durant
Phoenix Suns' Kevin Durant reacts.
KD is another all-time great. He has won two NBA Championships, one MVP award, four NBA scoring titles, and four gold medals. He is also the leading scorer in US Olympic basketball history. He was the second overall draft pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, and he won the Rookie of the Year in the 2007-08 season before being selected for his first All-Star game in 2009-10. Before the 2010-11 season, Durant signed a five-year deal worth $86 million with the Thunder and made his first NBA final in 2012, losing to Miami Heat. He won his first championship with the Golden State Warriors in the 2016-2017 season. He was the Warriors' top scorer in every game in the finals, and he was named the NBA Finals MVP. In October, Durant reached 29,000 career points, becoming just the eighth player to do so. He is one of the best scorers the NBA has ever seen, and would have thrived in O'Neal's era.
Amen and Ausar Thompson
Amen and Ausar Thompson
Amen and Ausar Thompson play for the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons respectively, and they were the fourth and fifth picks in the 2023 draft, with Amen one pick ahead of Ausar. They have both been putting up impressive numbers since joining the NBA. Ausar became the youngest player in NBA history to put up at least five blocks in an NBA debut, at 20 years old and 269 days, and reached the play-offs for the first time this season, while Amen put up a career-high 33-points against the Celtics in January. Neither have the most impressive CV, but we're sure they'll be delighted to be put on a list with Durant, James, and Edwards, and with both just 22, they have a long career ahead of them.
MJ Related
Michael Jordan Named Only Four Players That Could've Played in His Era of Basketball
MJ named four NBA players that could've played and succeeded in his era.