[Hoot Gibson]

Shaq was in pretty good shape in his prime. It wasn't until the end of his Laker era that he started to get out of shape.

His stats say otherwise. Shaq played in 81 games in each of his first two seasons in the league. Over the next 17 seasons, he never again played a season without missing at least one game. In his last season with Orlando, Shaq missed 28 games. During his first three seasons with the Lakers, he missed 86 games.

In comparison, Wilt led the NBA in minutes played in 8 of his 14 seasons. He played 82 games in each of his final three seasons in the league.

Hauling around upwards of 320 pounds took its toll on Shaq's career.

For those who think that Shaq was roughed up more than Chamberlain, the stats there also tell a different story. In 14 seasons and 1,045 games, Wilt shot 610 more free throws than Shaq did in 19 seasons and 1,207 games. Shaq was not the first poor free throw shooting center to get hacked every game because opposing teams could not stop him.