SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Asked to give his all-time NBA starting five and instructed to put himself at the center position, soon-to-be Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal instead elected to start one of the men that will induct him.
O'Neal said he'd pick Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell at the center position while noting, "I wouldn't be on that team because I'm not that good." O'Neal's starting lineup featured Magic Johnson at point guard, Michael Jordan at shooting guard, Julius Erving at small forward, and Karl Malone at power forward (with O'Neal explaining that the Mailman edged Charles Barkley for that 4 spot because of his durability).
Russell and Erving will be two of the players to present O'Neal at Friday's Hall of Fame induction. Alonzo Mourning and Isiah Thomas will join them. Russell will also present Yao Ming.
O'Neal explained Thursday that a conversation with Russell early in his career really resonated with him.
"I learned from experience that, a lot of times, conversations with ones that are greater than you will take you to that next level," O'Neal said. "Because those are stuff that you can't buy, stuff you can't practice. So just sitting with [Russell], like, the first time I met him -- three hours. He was just telling me a whole bunch of stuff. I learned a lot there.
"I wish I would have had that opportunity with Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and Wilt [Chamberlain], but, for some reason, we never got to talk for more than five minutes. Which is fine. But when I first met Bill Russell, he was nice, he was sweet. He told me I was a great player. I was like, 'Wow.' And then we just sat down and talked about his game. He was like, 'You should do this. You should do that.' And when you get information like that, that’s like one of the top techy guys trying to give you some stock information. You better take it, you know what I mean?"
O'Neal also reflected briefly on his injury-shortened final season with the Celtics at Thursday's Hall of Fame news conferences. O'Neal has often expressed frustration that an Achilles injury limited him to 37 games during the 2010-11 season; Boston bowed out early in that postseason despite a loaded roster coming off an NBA Finals appearance the season before.
"I was a hypocrite when it came to Boston fans before I get there. I really didn’t like you guys," O'Neal said. "I got there, you guys opened your arms, and the one thing about Boston: You always appreciate hard work. Even though I wasn’t the Shaq-ity Shaq, I just went out and did what I could.
"It was different. I would just sit there and get rebounds, play defense, and do little things. We still had the Big Three. We still had a chance [to compete for a title] but I [injured] my Achilles and I think we lost in the second round."