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Shaquille O’Neal Posts a Photo Of His Top 10 NBA Finals Performers: Former Teammate Surprisingly Missing

Published 04/11/2020, 7:00 PM EDT

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Shaquille O’Neal is buzzing on social media during this period of quarantine. The four-time NBA champion never backs down from stating his opinions.

The Hall of Famer recently posted a photo on Instagram, which did not go down well with everyone. 

Shaquille O’Neal posts a picture of the Top 10 Finals Performers of all time 

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O’Neal posted a picture on his Instagram account which ranked the Top 10 NBA Finals performers of all time. And of course, as many would predict, Michael Jordan topped the list. With a 100% Finals win rate, nobody has a better success rate than the six-time NBA champion.

Shaq was ranked second in the post. The ranking, on the surface, seems reasonable, as he has won four titles in his career. Three of those titles were with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with Miami Heat. Racking up four wins from six finals, maybe he does deserve to be there. 

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I agree. Do you?

A post shared by DR. SHAQUILLE O’NEAL Ed.D. (@shaq) on

Three-time NBA champion LeBron James ranked third in the list. James has made nine NBA Finals appearance in his career, winning three and losing five. 

Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird was placed fifth while two-time champion Kevin Durant came in at sixth place. 

Kobe Bryant, a champion on five different occasions, ranked ninth. Bryant has been a finalist seven times and ended up winning the title five times. 

Bill Russell, another Celtics legend, completed the list as he finished tenth. Considering Russell has been to 12 finals and won 11 of them, it seems unfair to rank him last. 

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Hakeem Olajuwon vs Dwyane Wade

While Hakeem Olajuwon, a two time champion with the Houston Rockets, finished seventh on the list, there was no place for former Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade. 

Wade has three titles in his career, all of them won with the Heat. Nobody can forget Wade’s match-winning performance in Game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals where he netted 42 points. The Heat were 0-2 down in the series when Wade produced this magical performance. 

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While O’Neal’s choice between Wade or Olajuwon is debatable, the former’s lack of presence from the list cannot be justified. 

Opinions do matter and in this case, leaving out Wade from the list might not sit well in the minds of his fans. 

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Written by:

Arjun Athreya

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Arjun Athreya is a senior writer at Essentially Sports and has been contributing since early 2020. Having developed an avid interest in sports at an early age, he pursued a Journalism degree and graduated from Madras Christian College. Arjun manages the Golf division and its content, and primarily covers news pertaining to the NBA as well.
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