He’s as big as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, if not bigger, stronger than Wilt Chamberlain, and runs like Magic Johnson.

— University of Texas coach Tom Penders on Shaq

AT twenty-one, basketball behemoth Shaquille O’Neal was earning comparisons to Wilt Chamberlain and inheriting Michael Jordan’s position as the N.B.A.’s No. 1 attraction. An army brat, O’Neal grew up—way up—on military bases overseas, on his way to adult measurements of 7′1″ and 300 pounds. Read the rest of this entry »