Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal is undoubtedly one of the tallest people in a room wherever he goes. The legendary Lakers center’s combination of size and foot speed was unmatched on the court. But he was not the first Lakers center to be an all-time great. Before him, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were the torchbearers of legendary Lakers centers. The Lakers have been sorely missing a dominant center ever since Shaq left them in 2004 for the Miami Heat.

Abdul-Jabbar joined the Lakers in the mid-seventies after winning his first NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks. He would then go on to win five more NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in the eighties along with Magic Johnson. Abdul-Jabbar and Shaq are two of the tallest players to have played the game of basketball. It is not often that you find them overshadowed by someone in terms of height. But a resurfaced tweet points otherwise.

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In a tweet from February 2022, we can see Shaq, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Dr. J posing for a photo with current NBA player Tacko Fall. But what was interesting about this photo was that Tacko Fall made all these legendary players look small because of his immense frame. It is not every day that you see someone taller than some of the greatest players in the history of basketball.

The 80s and 90s: The legendary eras of centers like Shaquille O’Neal

As the game of basketball has moved towards fast-paced small ball lineups and shooters all around, the importance of the center position has reduced a little bit. But there was a time when centers used to dominate the game of basketball.

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From Chamberlain and Abdul-Jabbar in the 70s to Hakeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone, and others in the 90s, it was a generation of centers after another.

The 9os involved players like Shaquille O’Neal, Patrick Ewing, and Duncan Robinson taking up the mantle. The resurgence in the importance of centers recently has been led by two-time defending league MVP Nikola Jokic and two-time MVP runner-up Joel Embiid.

Who do you think was the greatest center in the NBA? Comment down below.