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Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most dominant centers to ever play in the NBA, and he more than lived up to the “big man” label by adding a ton of weight onto his massive frame. However, there were concerns Shaq had packed on too many pounds at various points during his career, and it’s hard to argue that wasn’t the case toward the end of his run with the Lakers.
There’s a reason the Magic selected Shaq with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. The 7’1″ phenom was a force to be reckoned with at LSU, and he wasted no time picking up where he left off in Orlando by harnessing his sheer athleticism to routinely pull off plays someone his size seemingly had no business attempting in the first place.
While he tipped the scales at 285 pounds when he made his NBA debut, he quickly realized he needed to add some more muscle in order to combat the many opponents who’d resorted to the “Hack-a-Shaq” strategy to exploit his fairly abysmal skills at the free-throw line.
Shaq got noticeably larger during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers, and his weight was a major point of contention with Kobe Bryant, who took issue with the lack of conditioning that had the tendency to put the team at a disadvantage on the basketball court.
During a recent appearance on the Let’s Go! podcast, Shaq shed some light on exactly how much he weighed during the run that saw the Lakers pull off the threepeat between 2000 and 2002 and, well, it seems like Kobe was pretty justified based on what his former teammate revealed to Tom Brady and Jim Gray.
@theletsgopod Just a casual 130 pound bulk
Here’s what he had to say:
“Phil Jackson came in and the first championship I was 345 [pounds]. And then I had a great summer, came back 385 for the second one. Last championship I was 415.
And then when I got traded away [to the Heat], Pat Riley had me doing army drills and I got back down to 325.”
Shaq was officially listed at 325 pounds during that trio of title runs, but fans who were skeptical that was actually the case have now been officially vindicated.
He didn’t address how much he weighed during his time with the Celtics, but if you compare pictures from that stint with photos taken during his final championship run with the Lakers, it’s safe to assume he was even heavier than 415 pounds when he was in Boston.