Lakers News: Watch Shaquille O'Neal School All-NBA Defenders at Team USA Practice

He's always been a competitor!

Whenever fans of the Los Angeles Lakers think of Shaquille O'Neal, a number of signature moves, highlights and memories immediately come to mind. He really came into his prime during his time with the purple and gold and this is where the majority of the NBA community agree that he became one of the most dominant players in the history of the game.

He only averaged less than 26 points in his final season with the franchise and on top of his three-peat with them, he also cashed in on a number of All-Star appearances, scoring titles and All-NBA teams. Shaq truly revolutionized what it meant to be a superstar center in the league, especially in an era of basketball where big men were highly prioritized.

And in case you haven't read any books written by The Big Diesel or tuned in to any documentaries in which he narrated about his career, I highly recommend to do so so you can truly see serious he took his competition whenever other All-Stars were involved.

Therefore, it makes a lot of sense that O'Neal jumped at the opportunity to be a member of the 1996 Team USA roster that won a gold medal in the summer of 1996. Footage recently surfaced of some one-on-one's that he was playing against the likes of superstar defensive players in Scottie Pippen and Gary Payton and let's just say... he was showing off some new moves.

Have a look for yourself!

Shaq still cookin' in 1996 at USAB Practice 🥶️🥶️

Posted by NBA on Thursday, August 3, 2023

O'Neal could have easily put his shoulder down and backed down both of them but instead he busted out guard-like dribble moves and deferred to some jumpsuits... two aspects that never quite made it into his personal game.

Nowadays, we see a number of seven footers handling the ball and shooting three's so maybe Shaq was just ahead of his time in this practice!