Shaquille O'Neal : The Great Pontificator

Brought to you by the guys at www.Lakers101.com.

Everyone loves the fun "Shaqfuscious" regardless of whether he left us and won a ring elsewhere. He will go down in the pantheon of great Laker centers, and will one day see his jersey lifted to the rafters at STAPLES Center and see his name enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

I looked at the stats of the recent great big men of the past 20 years and have compiled a few lists.

Double-double with 5 blocks (points - rebounds - blocks)

*(games/seasons)

1. Hakeem Olajuwon  (198/18)
2. Dikembe Mutombo  (157/17)
3. David Robinson  (144/14)
4. Patrick Ewing  (117/17)
5. Shaquille O'Neal  (109/16)
6. Tim Duncan  (88/11)
7. Alonzo Mourning  (87/15)
8. Dwight Howard  (28/5)
9. Kevin Garnett  (25/13)
10. Yao Ming  (19/6)
11. Pau Gasol  (17/7)
12. Karl Malone  (5/19)
13. Dirk Nowitzki  (4/10)
14. Lamar Odom (2/9)
15. Charles Barkley  (2/13)

For as much flack as he has received over the years for his conditioning and focus, he still managed to put up some astounding numbers:

• He grabbed 20 or more rebounds in a game 35 times; 11 of those games he had five or more blocks. 
• He has had six or more blocks in a game 49 times, including his career high of 15 at the age of 21.

But what makes Shaq stand out from the pack of dominant big men is his propensity for scoring, perhaps what he is best known for.

• He topped the 40 point mark 49 times in his career
• He has had 247 games of 30 points-10 rebounds
• He has had 716 double-doubles in 1,113 career games or 64% of the time. In comparison, Dwight Howard has 282 double-doubles in 404 games (70%).

To see more "Shaqovic" type numbers, go to Lakers101.com.