sary All-Time Team and starred on the gold-medal-
winning U.S. Olympic basketball team, dubbed the
“Dream Team.” After signing with the Los Angeles
Lakers in July, 1996, O’Neal attained All-NBA First
Team accolades in 1998 and led the NBA in scoring
with 1,289 points (26.3-point average) in 1999.
Impact O’Neal took advantage of his larger-than-
life size and charismatic personality to expand into
music and films during the decade. He released the
rap albumsShaq Diesel(1993),Shaq-Fu: Da Return
(1994),You Can’t Stop the Reign(1996), andRespect
(1998) and starred in a handful of films, including
Blue Chips(1994),Kazaam(1996), andSteel(1997).
Subsequent Events O’Neal enjoyed his most pro-
ductive years with the Lakers under coach Phil Jack-
son, winning three consecutive NBA championships
from 2000 through 2002. In 2000, O’Neal led the
NBA in scoring with 2,344 points (a career-high 29.7-
point average) and was chosen as the regular-season
and NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. He posted a
career-high 61 points against the Los Angeles Clip-
pers on March 6. O’Neal was traded to the Miami
Heat in July, 2004, and helped Miami capture the
2006 NBA title. He was traded again, this time to the
Phoenix Suns, in 2008.
Further Reading
Nelson, Murry R.Shaquille O’Neal: A Bi-
ography. Westport, Conn.: Green-
wood Press, 2007.
O’Neal, Shaquille. Shaq Talks Back.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001.
O’Neal, Shaquille, with Jack McCal-
lum.Shaq Attaq!New York: Hyper-
ion, 1993.
David L. Porter
See also African Americans; Barkley,
Charles; Basketball; Dream Team; Film
in the United States; Hip-hop and rap
music; Johnson, Magic; Jordan, Mi-
chael; Malone, Karl; Olympic Games
of 1996; Sports.
O’Reilly, Bill
Identification Broadcast journalist and political
commentator
Born September 10, 1949; New York, New York
A prominent broadcast journalist during the 1990’s,
O’Reilly launched the popular but controversial cable news
programThe O’Reilly Factoron the Fox News Channel.
Bill O’Reilly earned a bachelor’s degree in history
from Marist College in 1971 and a master’s degree in
broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1976.
O’Reilly then spent the next two decades working as a
news reporter and/or anchor at numerous television
news stations across the United States, including
WNEP-TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and KATU-TV
in Portland, Oregon. Following a three-year stint as a
news correspondent for ABC World News Tonight,
O’Reilly was hired in 1989 by King World Productions
as a correspondent for the newly created syndicated
programInside Edition. The program, which com-
peted with other tabloid news programs such asHard
CopyandA Current Affair, included a mix of crime sto-
ries, investigative news stories, and celebrity report-
ing. Shortly after the program’s inception, O’Reilly
replaced the show’s original anchor, David Frost.The Nineties in America O’Reilly, Bill 651
Bill O’Reilly, seen here in 1993, hosted the tabloid news showInside Editionfrom
1989 to 1995.(Hulton Archive/Getty Images)