2016 Hall of Famers Yao Ming, Allen Iverson, Shaq Transcended NBA Stardom

On-court dominance isn’t the only thing we remember about basketball’s all-time greats.

Far from it.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2016 class includes three NBA players—Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson and Yao Ming—whose cultural legacies might outpace their combined basketball accolades.

O’Neal and Iverson were each named NBA MVP, while Yao racked up five All-NBA selections in a six-year span. Physically, Yao and Shaq are two of the largest and most imposing men ever to step onto the hardwood. The diminutive Iverson was so ferocious in his play that we might as well call him the “pound-for-pound GOAT.”

Coming on the heels of Michael Jordan’s stardom, each had a gregarious personality and tremendous commercial appeal with the NBA, fans and advertisers. Their combined influence helped push the NBA beyond the realm of basketball and into the world of hip-hop and Hollywood. Together, they extended the league’s reach across the Pacific Ocean and made basketball perhaps the most popular sport in the world’s largest nation.

Together, they helped carry the NBA on their shoulders, embracing all the pressures and criticisms that came with superstar status. They bridged the gap between the Jordan era and what we now know as the modern NBA, unquestionably for the better.

    

Shaq’s Limitless Character

The headliner of this year’s class, O’Neal, is a four-time NBA champion, a three-time Finals MVP and a regular-season MVP. With a physically imposing and overwhelming style, it was impossible not to feel Shaq’s presence on the court—or off it.

He quickly ascended the NBA’s advertising hierarchy out of Louisiana State University. With the exception of Michael Jordan, no other NBA athlete had such an off-court advertising presence in the 1990s. When Shaq’s Orlando Magic met Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the New York Times compared the two dominant NBA commercial forces: “The Madison Avenue numbers for Jordan and O’Neal aren’t bad either. According to Newsweek’s May 1 edition, Jordan makes $30 million in endorsements annually compared with O’Neal’s $12 million.”

Sure, everyone still wanted to “be like Mike.” But companies saw an unparalleled marketing figure in O’Neal. Sensing an opportunity to compete with nemesis Nike, shoemaker Reebok signed Shaq to a signature deal and even gave him a distinctive logo to combat the Jordan Jumpman.

O’Neal’s footprint went well beyond the realm of shoes. He helped fuse the links between hip-hop and the NBA with his 1993 rap album Shaq Diesel. Despite lukewarm reviews, the project had the production of hip-hop legends Erick Sermon and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, ascending to platinum status. One-upping Jordan (who appeared in Michael Jackson’s video for “Jam”), O’Neal actually rapped on Jackson’s song “2 Bad” on the HIStory album released in 1995.

But O’Neal’s music career slowly atrophied from these high-water marks: His 1994 sophomore album, Shaq Fu: Da Return, did receive gold status, but two subsequent studio albums performed much worse in sales and reviews.

Shaq’s acting career began thrillingly with Blue Chips. The film itself received mixed reviews, but the Washington Post noted: “If it wasn’t for some exciting roundball action, Shaquille O’Neal’s hulking-dunking presence and a wonderfully guttural performance from coach Nick Nolte, you’d slither off the bench asleep.”

The film did score $23 million at the box office compared to its $20 million budget, but Shaq’s movie career also began to flounder with such escapades as 1996’s Kazaam ($20 million budget, $19 million box office) and 1997’s woeful Steel ($16 million budget, $1.7 million box office). O’Neal hasn’t gotten a leading film role since but has stayed busy with numerous cameos. Of course, he remains a regular presence on TV via commercials and his gig with Inside the NBA on TNT.

MJ aside, during the 1990s and 2000s, there may not have been a more visible basketball figure than Shaquille O’Neal. His continuing commercial appeal five years after he’s retired and nearly 25 years after his NBA debut testifies to that.

    

Allen Iverson vs. the Establishment

Iverson may not have matched O’Neal’s omnipresent commercial appeal, but he certainly struck a deeper chord in American basketball’s cultural soul.

The diminutive and brash combo guard played the game in a fearless manner. The moment that perhaps put him on the national radar more than any other?

The sweeping …

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