YouTube Gold: Shaquille O’ Neal In College Was Something Else Again

If you thought you knew who Shaq was as a player, you can’t without seeing his college highlights.

Shaquille O’ Neal was a great NBA player, one of the best big men of all time. At a certain point in his career though, he knew he could overpower anyone and quit worrying about his fitness, which was really too bad, because in addition to his power, O’ Neal was athletic and talented.

If you look back at his LSU highlights, you’ll see a completely different player. O’ Neal ran the court like a dream or a nightmare, if you were on the opposing team.

In his earlier incarnation, O’ Neal ran as well as anyone on the court, passed the ball beautifully and could do almost anything except guard an outside jump shot.

It’s amazing to watch him block shots here and to come out of nowhere to end a break with an emphatic slam.

His prime ended far sooner than it had to. Had he done like Tim Duncan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and focused on fitness, he might have added seven years of greatness to his career.

Even so, these highlights are breathtaking. The only player his size who was stronger, could run better and jump higher was Wilt Chamberlain. For anyone else, O’ Neal was unstoppable.