4. Shaquille O’Neal
If Shaquille O’Neal truly possessed a basketball “killer instinct,” or truly cared about keeping himself in shape during the off-season (instead of playing himself into shape during the season and in time for the playoffs), there’s no question he would’ve been higher on this list, and considered the no-questions-asked torch-bearer of the post-Jordan era. From the mid-1990’s through the mid-2000’s, O’Neal was basically a basketball cheat code on the court, and a complete cultural phenomenon off of it.
He was the centerpiece of one of the greatest “ended before it started” dynasties with the Orlando Magic in the mid-1990’s, and the backbone of the Los Angeles Lakers’ dynasty that won three NBA championships and went to four straight Finals in the 2000’s. To this day, O’Neal ranks 8th all-time in points scored, 6th in field goals, 15th in rebounds, and 8th in blocks.