# Shaquille O'Neal's remarkable 37-year NBA Finals streak is in danger **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** basketball-nba\ **Created:** [June 27, 2021, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaquille-oneals-remarkable-37-year-nba-finals-streak-is-in-danger/945115 "2021-06-27T12:40:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaquille-oneals-remarkable-37-year-nba-finals-streak-is-in-danger/945115/1 "2021-06-27T12:40:24Z")
For the last 37 years, dating back to before Michael Jordan started playing in the league, there has always been at least one player in the NBA Finals that was a future or past teammate of Shaquille O’Neal’s, or was Shaquille O’Neal himself. Rajon Rondo of the Los Angeles Clippers is the only player in contention to continue that streak in 2020-21, and with the Clippers down to the Suns 3-1, that streak is in jeopardy. Read about it [here](https://thesportsrush.com/nba-news-rajon-rondo-is-the-only-player-left-that-can-keep-shaquille-o-neals-ridiculous-streak-alive-michael-jordan-wasnt-even-an-nba-player-when-we-last-saw-a-finals-without-a-sha/). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaquille-oneals-remarkable-37-year-nba-finals-streak-is-in-danger/945115/2 "2021-07-08T14:42:43Z")
Jaromir Jagr’s 41 year finals streak is still intact. > ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaquille-oneals-remarkable-37-year-nba-finals-streak-is-in-danger/945115/3 "2021-07-08T15:19:57Z")
This is insane. And, from the article, it looks like a teammate of his may have won the cup 39 of those 41 years. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaquille-oneals-remarkable-37-year-nba-finals-streak-is-in-danger/945115/4 "2021-07-08T15:47:39Z")
This must surely be true of a lot of longtime players, especially if they moved around to a few teams. I’d imagine it is rate that a Finals would not include Lebron James or someone who at one point played with him. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaquille-oneals-remarkable-37-year-nba-finals-streak-is-in-danger/945115/5 "2021-07-10T23:55:28Z")
NHL and NBA rosters must be small compared to NFL. It doesn’t seem obvious to me that these streaks ought to be common. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaquille-oneals-remarkable-37-year-nba-finals-streak-is-in-danger/945115/6 "2021-07-11T03:26:12Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > NHL and NBA rosters must be small compared to NFL. NHL: 23 players NBA: 15 players NFL: 53 players A bit smaller. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaquille-oneals-remarkable-37-year-nba-finals-streak-is-in-danger/945115/7 "2021-07-13T21:32:08Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > there has always been at least one player in the NBA Finals that was a future or past teammate of Shaquille O’Neal’s, or was Shaquille O’Neal himself If Shaq himself makes the finals, it’s likely that several of his teammates do as well 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaquille-oneals-remarkable-37-year-nba-finals-streak-is-in-danger/945115/8 "2021-07-22T18:55:29Z")
40 out of 41. There was no Stanley Cup awarded in 2005.