[Hoot Gibson]

I like Shaq but he is not close to being the top center to ever play, which is a shame because he had the potential to end his career and being mentioned in the same breath as Wilt. Unfortunately, Shaq played out of shape for much of his career and never came close to playing up to his full potential.

Besides Wilt, Abdul-Jabbar, and Bill Russell all had much better careers than Shaq. I would rank Moses Malone and Olajuwon at least even with Shaq.

I know that Shaq was injured much of his career but packing extra weight on a 7 foot frame over a long NBA season is just inviting injuries. If he had not devoted so much time to his sideline careers such as police work, movies, and TV ads, maybe he would have enjoyed more injury-free years and learned to shoot free throws.