Category profile
- Dominance
- 90
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 84
- Honours
- 89
- Statistics
- 92
Career timeline · Points per game
| Season | Points per game | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 23.4 | |
| 1993 | 29.3 | |
| 1994 | 29.3 | |
| 1995 | 26.6 | |
| 1996 | 26.2 | |
| 1997 | 28.3 | |
| 1998 | 26.3 | |
| 1999 | 29.7 | |
| 2000 | 28.7 | |
| 2001 | 27.2 | |
| 2002 | 27.5 | |
| 2003 | 21.5 | |
| 2004 | 22.9 | |
| 2005 | 20 | |
| 2006 | 17.3 | |
| 2007 | 17.8 | |
| 2008 | 17.8 | |
| 2009 | 12 | |
| 2010 | 9.2 |
Data sources
- NBA
- Basketball Reference
- Olympedia
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Shaquille O'Neal ranks #18 in Basketball
Shaquille O'Neal ranks 18th among Basketball athletes on GOAT Rank and 102nd of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 89.7 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 90, Peak 94, Longevity 84, Honours 89, Statistics 92. Those categories are normalised against the full Basketball reference universe of 399 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1992–2011 with 19 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1999, which sets the Peak component at 94. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 94 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes nba titles 4, mvp awards 1, finals mvp 3, all-star selections 15.
Immediately ahead sits Oscar Robertson on 89.8, a gap of 0.1 points. Directly behind is Kevin Garnett on 87.5. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Shaquille O'Neal GOAT Score explained
- Dominance90/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Shaq stood above the field while competing. Scored 90/100 against the full Basketball cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1999. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity84/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 19 years of competition and 19 recorded seasons. Scored 84/100.
- Honours89/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 89/100.
- Statistics92/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 92/100.
Top Shaq comparisons
Shaquille O'Neal — frequently asked
- Is Shaquille O'Neal the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Shaquille O'Neal ranks 18th in Basketball with a GOAT Score of 89.7, behind LeBron James on 95.6.
- What is Shaquille O'Neal's GOAT Score?
- 89.7 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 90 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 84 (20%), Honours 89 (20%), Statistics 92 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Shaquille O'Neal rank all time?
- 102nd of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 18th within Basketball.
- Shaquille O'Neal vs Oscar Robertson: who ranks higher?
- Oscar Robertson, on 89.8 against Shaquille O'Neal's 89.7 — a margin of 0.1 points.