3. Specimen
Shaquille O’Neal was physically gifted in a way the NBA had never seen before. The former Lakers superstar was the best player of his generation and also a beast on the court. His stature didn’t help him as he aged because he gained weight and lost fitness. But in his prime he was unstoppable and a nightmare for opposition teams to play against. Furthermore, this made him an incredibly intimidating foe.

There were even murmurs of opposing players getting the Shaq-flu or Shaq-itis and conveniently missing games against Shaq,” Poorchris wrote. “No other player is intimidating enough to even start rumors like that, regardless of their validity.” While the likes of Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James are all amazing athletes with great skills, they never had the same physical presence as Shaq.