How long did Shaq's prime last?

[SyRyanYang]

3 years?
94-00 young Shaq
00-03 prime Shaq
04- Old Shaq
Is that so?

[crisoner]

99-02 Imo

[kaiiu]

prolly like 98-03

Peak- 00-02

[ThaSwagg3r]

1999-2005 as far as his basketball prime. His athletic prime was when he was with Orlando though.

[Bigsmoke]

1995-2002

[jlip]

I'm going '98-'03.
Had he not missed 20+ games he more than likely would have had MJ's last MVP in '98 IMO. Heck, injuries are probably what kept him from winning a couple more.

[24r2]

kobe's prime 2000-2015

[Odinn]

From 1997-98 to 2002-03. Maybe 1996-97 also.

Peak were 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons obviously.

[$LakerGold]

wtf r yall talkin bout..

1997 - 2007 - Guy was still dominating the paint til he got injured.

[MJ23forever]

'95-'06

[Colby Brian]

1994-2003

[HB40TheNextStar]

I was glorious. Ended in 2003.

[Colby Brian]

heres his stats


Season Age Tm Lg G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
1992-93 20 ORL NBA 81 81 37.9 9.0 16.1 .562 0.0 0.0 .000 5.3 8.9 .592 4.2 9.6 13.9 1.9 0.7 3.5 3.8 4.0 23.4
1993-94 21 ORL NBA 81 81 39.8 11.8 19.6 .599 0.0 0.0 .000 5.8 10.5 .554 4.7 8.5 13.2 2.4 0.9 2.9 2.7 3.5 29.3
1994-95 22 ORL NBA 79 79 37.0 11.8 20.2 .583 0.0 0.1 .000 5.8 10.8 .533 4.2 7.3 11.4 2.7 0.9 2.4 2.6 3.3 29.3
1995-96 23 ORL NBA 54 52 36.0 11.0 19.1 .573 0.0 0.0 .500 4.6 9.5 .487 3.4 7.7 11.0 2.9 0.6 2.1 2.9 3.6 26.6
1996-97 24 LAL NBA 51 51 38.1 10.8 19.4 .557 0.0 0.1 .000 4.5 9.4 .484 3.8 8.7 12.5 3.1 0.9 2.9 2.9 3.5 26.2
1997-98 25 LAL NBA 60 57 36.3 11.2 19.1 .584 0.0 0.0 6.0 11.4 .527 3.5 7.9 11.4 2.4 0.7 2.4 2.9 3.2 28.3
1998-99 26 LAL NBA 49 49 34.8 10.4 18.1 .576 0.0 0.0 .000 5.5 10.2 .540 3.8 6.9 10.7 2.3 0.7 1.7 2.5 3.2 26.3
1999-00 27 LAL NBA 79 79 40.0 12.1 21.1 .574 0.0 0.0 .000 5.5 10.4 .524 4.3 9.4 13.6 3.8 0.5 3.0 2.8 3.2 29.7
2000-01 28 LAL NBA 74 74 39.5 11.0 19.2 .572 0.0 0.0 .000 6.7 13.1 .513 3.9 8.8 12.7 3.7 0.6 2.8 2.9 3.5 28.7
2001-02 29 LAL NBA 67 66 36.1 10.6 18.3 .579 0.0 0.0 .000 5.9 10.7 .555 3.5 7.2 10.7 3.0 0.6 2.0 2.6 3.0 27.2
2002-03 30 LAL NBA 67 66 37.8 10.4 18.1 .574 0.0 0.0 6.7 10.8 .622 3.9 7.2 11.1 3.1 0.6 2.4 2.9 3.4 27.5
2003-04 31 LAL NBA 67 67 36.8 8.3 14.1 .584 0.0 0.0 4.9 10.1 .490 3.7 7.8 11.5 2.9 0.5 2.5 2.9 3.4 21.5
2004-05 32 MIA NBA 73 73 34.1 9.0 15.0 .601 0.0 0.0 4.8 10.5 .461 3.5 6.9 10.4 2.7 0.5 2.3 2.8 3.6 22.9
2005-06 33 MIA NBA 59 58 30.6 8.1 13.6 .600 0.0 0.0 3.7 8.0 .469 2.9 6.3 9.2 1.9 0.4 1.8 2.8 3.9 20.0
2006-07 34 MIA NBA 40 39 28.4 7.1 12.0 .591 0.0 0.0 3.1 7.4 .422 2.4 5.0 7.4 2.0 0.2 1.4 2.4 3.5 17.3
2007-08 35 TOT NBA 61 61 28.7 5.4 9.1 .593 0.0 0.0 2.8 5.5 .503 2.7 6.4 9.1 1.5 0.5 1.4 3.0 3.7 13.6
2007-08 35 MIA NBA 33 33 28.6 5.8 10.0 .581 0.0 0.0 2.7 5.4 .494 3.0 4.8 7.8 1.4 0.6 1.6 3.0 4.1 14.2
2007-08 35 PHO NBA 28 28 28.7 5.0 8.2 .611 0.0 0.0 2.9 5.7 .513 2.4 8.2 10.6 1.7 0.5 1.2 3.0 3.4 12.9
2008-09 36 PHO NBA 75 75 30.0 6.8 11.2 .609 0.0 0.0 .000 4.1 6.9 .595 2.5 5.9 8.4 1.7 0.7 1.4 2.2 3.4 17.8
2009-10 37 CLE NBA 53 53 23.4 4.9 8.7 .566 0.0 0.0 .000 2.1 4.3 .496 1.8 4.9 6.7 1.5 0.3 1.2 2.0 3.2 12.0
2010-11 38 BOS NBA 37 36 20.3 3.6 5.4 .667 0.0 0.0 2.0 3.5 .557 1.3 3.5 4.8 0.7 0.4 1.1 1.5 3.2 9.2
Career NBA 1207 1197 34.7 9.4 16.1 .582 0.0 0.0 .045 4.9 9.3 .527 3.5 7.4 10.9 2.5 0.6 2.3 2.7 3.4 23.7

[BlackJoker23]

94-04. some of you guys don't remember how dominating shaq was in orlando. i'd say 04 was his prime but he was reaching the end and his stats in 04 are skewed by the lack of touches he received to help malone and payton fit in the offense and they had chemistry issues as well.

[Timofey Mozgov]

His career pretty much ended when he hurt his leg/thigh his first season with Miami. He was never the same after that. He was absolutely dominant that year until he got hurt. If that fluke injury never occurred they woulda won back-to-back titles.

[Micku]

Probably ever since his second year till 2003. In his early Orlando days, he was more active on defense and he had 29.3 ppg on very efficient shooting. He was also quicker. But he slowed down slightly, it could be because of conditioning, until Phil Jackson wanted him to play better defense like he did in Orlando.

So tbh, his prime could be his second year all the way till 2003ish.

In 2004, he was still a beast, but Karl Malone, Payton, and Kobe were all in the same team. So he wouldn't shoot as much. Plus zone defense was there and people can rom around more to make sure he does not get the ball and double team him. I don't really remember if they did that or not, but Shaq was still a beast and could score a lot of points if need be.

[kizut1659]

Probably ever since his second year till 2003. In his early Orlando days, he was more active on defense and he had 29.3 ppg on very efficient shooting. He was also quicker. But he slowed down slightly, it could be because of conditioning, until Phil Jackson wanted him to play better defense like he did in Orlando.

So tbh, his prime could be his second year all the way till 2003ish.

In 2004, he was still a beast, but Karl Malone, Payton, and Kobe were all in the same team. So he wouldn't shoot as much. Plus zone defense was there and people can rom around more to make sure he does not get the ball and double team him. I don't really remember if they did that or not, but Shaq was still a beast and could score a lot of points if need be.

I agree. During his second season (1993-1994) he was already outplaying Ewing and leading the NBA in scoring untill the last game of the season where Robinson's 70+ game put his ahead. The next season Orlando made the finals. As for the end of the prime, I think his absolute peak ended in 2001, when he came back after the 2nd championship fat and out of shape, but for all intensive purposes his prime lasted untill his injury in Miami in 2005. In 2003, he still had a good season and playoffs, in 2004 he played well (incluing the finals) and his stats were skewed by lack of touches, and the same goes for 2005 - where his minutes and shot attempts were both down from before. You could see the glimpses of dominant Shaq even in the 2006 playoffs, such as his 30-20-5 game against Detroit.

[greensmoke21]

prime shaq>>>any version of MJ

[$LakerGold]

His career pretty much ended when he hurt his leg/thigh his first season with Miami. He was never the same after that. He was absolutely dominant that year until he got hurt. If that fluke injury never occurred they woulda won back-to-back titles.

He got injured in his 3rd year with the heat.