Los Angeles Lakers

Lakers' Scott ranks Shaquille O'Neal as NBA's fourth-best center of all-time

Published Dec. 23, 2015 5:19 p.m. ET

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Upon hearing that former Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was eligible as a first-ballot candidate to become inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016, Lakers coach Byron Scott said O'Neal was the fourth-best center of all-time, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

Scott listed former Lakers centers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain and former Boston Celtics center Bill Russell as the three centers better than O'Neal, who four NBA titles and ranks sixth on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

Those three above O'Neal make sense, though when factoring in championships, one could argue O'Neal should be ahead of Chamberlain. But what about Hakeem Olajuwon, a center who dominated O'Neal in the 1995 NBA Finals and rightfully belongs in the conversation?

Well, Scott said basic math puts O'Neal ahead.

“Olajuwon is up there,” Scott told the Los Angeles Daily News. “I look at statistics, but I also look at rings. Shaq got more rings than Olajuwon.”

Scott and O'Neal were teammates during the 1996-97 season, Scott's 14th and final season in the league.

“He was one of the biggest guys I’ve ever been around,” Scott said. “But he was also one of the funniest guys I’ve ever been around. He’s very playful and seemed to love life and have fun.”

That doesn't mean O'Neal prevented Scott from having fun on occasion.

For example, the 2002 NBA Finals. That's when O'Neal and the Lakers completed their three-peat, completing a four-game sweep of a New Jersey Nets team coached by Scott. O'Neal averaged 36.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, absolutely destroying any big man the Nets threw his way and any coverage they tried.

“When he wanted to play and dominate, there was nothing you could do about it. Period,” Scott said. “Single coverage wasn’t working. Double coverage wasn’t working. When you double, most of the time you kick it back deeper in position. When you threw it back in, there was nothing you could do. So he was one of those guys that are rare in our sport.”