Kareem was so dominant for his time in both height, skill and athletism. He could dominate games from both ends of the court and they actually changed some rules of the game because no one could stop him. They made the key wider and outlawed the dunk for awhile.
Shaq is a beast, there is no one stronger and he was so quick for his size. He was mean on the court and would happily try and break your arm if you tried to block one of his dunks. Shaq played against much bigger and faster players than Kareem imo.
The difference in Shaq was his larger than life personality. Kareem hide from any publicity and now he dosen't get the recognition that he deserves. Shaq loved to get on stage and rap, dance or make a fool of himself. I was lucky enough to play against both players and Shaq is much better because he was just unstoppable. He was also very good off the court taking time to speak to fellow players. After 19 years playing I can't think of one scandal that has occured around Shaq, and when your 7'2 and about 160kg it's hard to hide.
Enjoy!
