BATON ROUGE — This week in WBRZ history, legendary LSU basketball star Shaquille O'Neal was drafted into the NBA.

On June 24, 1992, O'Neal was drafted by the Orlando Magic after the Florida team beat out the favored Minnesota Timberwolves, an outcome some still consider to be fixed.

The 7'1" center was the first overall pick after leaving the Dale Brown-led LSU Tigers early. The rest, as they say, is history.

O'Neal became one of the league's most dominant players, putting up a career 28,596 points, helping Team USA win gold at the 1996 Olympics and eventually having his number — 33 — retired in Baton Rouge.

Now, the sports legend, who has been retired for nearly 15 years, remains an ambassador to the sport, appearing on Inside the NBA and becoming a media personality outside of basketball, appearing in dozens of movies, TV shows, and commercials.

O'Neal, however, is most fondly remembered by the capital region as a hometown hero, despite being born in New Jersey. O'Neal has been memorialized outside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center with a massive bronze statue of him dunking.

Watch more of WBRZ’s celebration of 70 years of local and community-driven coverage on YouTube at the playlist below: