Shaquille O’Neal has never been shy about confidence — but when it comes to the NBA’s greatest-of-all-time debate, the Big Diesel takes a surprisingly thoughtful, respectful approach.
Now a global sports icon, Shaq’s on-court dominance still feels unreal decades later. At over 7 feet tall with unmatched power, footwork, and agility, O’Neal changed how the game was played. Teams redesigned rosters just to slow him down. He shattered backboards, bullied defenders, and made the impossible look routine. Simply put, Shaq was a force the league had never seen before — and may never see again.
Over a Hall of Fame career, Shaq stacked accomplishments most players can only dream about: four NBA championships, three Finals MVPs, one regular-season MVP, 15 All-Star selections, and countless broken records. His peak came during his legendary run with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he formed one of the most dominant duos in basketball history alongside Kobe Bryant. That Lakers three-peat remains one of the most unstoppable stretches the NBA has ever witnessed.
Yet despite all that, Shaq doesn’t place himself in the traditional GOAT conversation.
On a recent episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, O’Neal opened up about how he views the debate — especially with Carmelo Anthony sitting across from him.
“I’m not in the GOAT conversation,” Shaq said bluntly. “It’s only three people… Kobe, Bron, and Mike.”
What stood out wasn’t humility — it was logic. Shaq has long argued that the GOAT debate is flawed because it tries to compare players who played completely different roles. Guards, wings, and big men don’t impact the game the same way, and Shaq believes lumping them together ignores basketball reality.
His solution? Categories.
According to Shaq, greatness should be discussed by position: best center, best guard, best forward, best shooting guard. Comparing a dominant center to a perimeter scorer just doesn’t make sense — and historically, big men are often at a disadvantage in public opinion. Fans naturally gravitate toward guards because they’re more relatable and flashy, while centers do the dirty work inside.
Still, when talking about respect for the game, Shaq sounds a lot like Michael Jordan.
O’Neal agrees with MJ that crowning yourself the GOAT is disrespectful to those who came before. Legends like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell laid the foundation for everything that followed — and Shaq believes honoring that lineage matters.
That mindset might explain why Shaq is comfortable letting others debate his place in history. Because while he may not claim the GOAT title, there’s little argument against this: Shaquille O’Neal was the most dominant center the NBA has ever seen.
And dominance, after all, is its own category.