* 1972 – Shaquille O ' Neal, American basketball player

Tim Duncan and David Robinson won the 1999 championship with the Spurs, and Shaquille O ' Neal and Kobe Bryant started the 2000s with three consecutive championships for the Lakers.

The Miami Heat, led by their star shooting guard, Dwyane Wade, and Shaquille O ' Neal, who had been traded from the Lakers during the 2004 summer, won the series over the Dallas Mavericks in 6 after losing the first two games.

Kobe Bryant won his first Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award award in his 13th season after leading the Lakers to their first NBA championship since the departure of Shaquille O ' Neal.

Shaquille O ' Neal

* March 6 – Shaquille O ' Neal, American basketball player

* Professional basketball players Steve Nash ( who was an award winning player " MP3 " according to Ali G and unable to speak proper English due to being Canadian ), Ben Wallace ( who he accuses of " playa-hating "), Shaquille O ' Neal ( who he argued with about the meaning of the NBA, Ali thinking it stood for Nationwide Basketball Society ), Tim Duncan ( from whom tried to get a pair of free sneakers ), Robert Horry, Dwyane Wade ( who he didn't realise was an NBA player, claiming he had snuck in to " hang with mah man Shaquille O ' Neal "), Richard Jefferson ( whom he called Thomas Jefferson his son ), Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller

* Shaquille O ' Neal or " The Diesel ", a retired American basketball player

The word " percentage " is often a misnomer in the context of sports statistics, when the referenced number is expressed as a decimal proportion, not a percentage: " The Phoenix Suns ' Shaquille O ' Neal led the NBA with a. 609 field goal percentage ( FG %) during the 2008-09 season.

* Shaquille O ' Neal: Big Fella

Dream Team II, also made up of future Heat players Shaquille O ' Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Dan Majerle and Tim Hardaway, would go on to win the tournament.

He was also named as the Center for the All-NBA First Team ( beating out Shaquille O ' Neal ) and was the runner-up for NBA Most Valuable Player, with Karl Malone winning the award.

Shaquille O ' Neal was acquired in a summer blockbuster involving Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, and Brian Grant He formed a power-duo with Wade.

They acquired superstar center Shaquille O ' Neal on July 14, 2004 in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant.

When the trade occurred he became a more polished scorer and was projected to have been a third option for the Heat to complement Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O ' Neal, had the circumstances of the season turned out differently.

On February 5, 2008, ESPN reported that the Heat were interested in trading center Shaquille O ' Neal, contrary to reports by Pat Riley one month earlier that the Heat was not interested in trading the 13-time all-star.

The franchise was founded in 1989 as an expansion franchise and has had such notable NBA stars such as Shaquille O ' Neal, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis, Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, and Rashard Lewis throughout its young history.

The Magic selected big-man Shaquille O ' Neal from Louisiana State University, the biggest prize in the draft since the Knicks won Patrick Ewing.

In Game Three, Shaquille O ' Neal fouled out late in the fourth quarter, and the 76ers pulled to within a point with less than a minute to play.

However, Jordan and the Bulls were unable to overcome the eventual Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic, which included Horace Grant, Anfernee Hardaway, and Shaquille O ' Neal.

Past NBA greats such as Nate Thurmond, Walt " Clyde " Frazier, and Shaquille O ' Neal also played in Cleveland ( albeit near the end of their careers ).

On June 25, 2009, 4-time NBA Champion and 15-time All-Star center Shaquille O ' Neal was traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Cavaliers.

* March 6 – Shaquille O ' Neal, basketball player, actor, and rapper.

In the 2001 NBA Playoffs, the Spurs eliminated the Timberwolves 3 – 1, defeated the Dallas Mavericks 4 – 1, but then bowed out against the Lakers led by superstars Shaquille O ' Neal and Kobe Bryant, losing in four straight games.

* Shaq Attaq # 743 ( 1995 ) – starring Shaquille O ' Neal

The Mavericks suffered, however, when Stackhouse was suspended for Game 5 for a flagrant foul on Shaquille O ' Neal, and the Heat eventually won the series 4 – 2.

Five years removed from his only All-Star appearance, Howard was nonetheless the fourth-highest-paid player in the NBA during the 2000 – 01 season, behind Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O ' Neal and Mourning.

From 2000 – 02, the Lakers, led by Shaquille O ' Neal and Kobe Bryant, won the NBA Finals in dominating performances.

Led by upcoming star and Finals MVP Dwyane Wade, coach Pat Riley and Shaquille O ' Neal, the turning point of the series was in Game 3, when the Heat overcame a 13-point deficit with less than 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter to win 98 – 96.

* Shaquille O ' Neal ( 2011 – present )

Despite coaching the Knicks to a respectable 34 – 25 record, Nelson had many personal problems with the players: e. g., he tried to convince management to trade Patrick Ewing in order to be in a position to make an offer to rising free agent Shaquille O ' Neal.

Also during the 2008 – 09 season, a bit of a feud developed between Van Gundy and Phoenix Suns center, and former Magic / Heat player, Shaquille O ' Neal ( the two were together when O ' Neal played for the Heat and Van Gundy was his coach ).

On February 6, 2008, the Phoenix Suns traded Shawn Marion and teammate, Marcus Banks, to the Miami Heat for center Shaquille O ' Neal.

Patrick and his crew often do quick impressions of particular sports figures, with the most frequent including Shaquille O ' Neal and his low voice and halting speech pattern, Keith Olbermann and his deep booming voice, Mike Krzyzewski's nasal-prone critiques, Katharine Hepburn and various lines from On Golden Pond, John Madden and his mixed speech rate game expressions and observations, Chris Berman making various grunting sounds or fictional last names for athletes, Bill Clinton's Southern twang, Mike Tyson's " I'm gonna eat your children!

On the offensive end, Posey played a huge role in knocking down shots because Miami's All-Stars, Wade and Shaquille O ' Neal, were often double-teamed and needed to pass the ball.

He averaged 23. 2 points, 12. 4 rebounds, 3. 2 assists and 2. 2 blocks per game, earned another pair of All-NBA and All-Defense First Team call-ups, and was co-MVP with Shaquille O ' Neal of the NBA All-Star Game.

*** The Los Angeles Lakers have announced they will retire the number for likely future Hall of Famer Shaquille O ' Neal on April 2, 2013.

**" I Hate 2 Brag " by Shaquille O ' Neal from the album Shaq Diesel

His first 3 Lakers championship squads fielded superstars Shaquille O ' Neal and Kobe Bryant, while his last 2 title teams saw him pair Bryant with fellow All-Star Pau Gasol.

* A 2007 ad features Shaquille O ' Neal dressed as a cop as he rescues Mike the Tiger from a tree ( Shaq attended LSU ).

It features former professional basketball player Shaquille O ' Neal ( also known as Shaq ) as a playable character.

The name is a colloquial rhyme that comes from the term hack, a common basketball slang verb meaning " commit a personal foul ", and Shaq, a frequently used nickname for Shaquille O ' Neal ; its rise in popularity coincided with that of the similarly named informal sport Hacky Sack in the early-to mid-1990s.

" The Contest " is referenced in the " Shaq " episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm ( S02E08 ), in which Larry David and Shaquille O ' Neal watch " The Contest " together.