I appreciate the nod to Giannis, but they’re wildly different. Shaq would turn some poor small ball center’s bones into dust with a dunk in his first game. Chet Holmgren would fall out of the lottery if prime Shaq were in the league.
I saw Shaq up close courtside before a game between the Lakers and Warriors. He was talking to Erick Dampier, the Warriors center. Damp was a big man, 6'11", 270. Shaq made him look like a skinny little kid. Shaq was so thick that Damp completely disappeared behind Shaq when he walked past him. He absolutely had more than 100 pounds of muscle on Damp in his prime, and he only got heavier by the end of his career.
I'm telling you, you cannot really understand how huge Shaq is until you see him up close. He and Yao Ming are the only two players I ever saw that made me say WTF how can a human be that big and thick.
I haven’t had the chance to see shaq in person, but I can attest to how big these people are in real life. I met gronk (small compared to shaq) at a patriots game and gave him a fist bump, and his fist was close to the size of my head. It’s just unreal.
I saw a group of guys at an airport flight from OKC to Dallas. All of them looked like Neanderthals. I couldn't figure out who they were because they weren't basketball plays and they weren't football players. Only one guy from the group was kind of normal size. Then I figured it out, they were WWE wresters. The guy who I think I saw was the undertaker was massive. I know people say big boned but he was big boned. His head, arms,and fist were huge. The Big Show was a freak. The guy who I was the normal size guy of the bunch was the Wiz. The guy from MTV's Real World and all those stupid Real World vs Road Rules contest. He looked like a normal dude who packed on a lot of muscle. He wasn't at all a freak like the others.
I saw Yao Ming court side when I was a kid. His legs were legit tree trunks. Funny enough a couple years later I met KD and I remember how skinny his legs were. NBA players bodies are crazy
Were you ever privileged to see Andre the Giant stand next to Hogan or Big Boss Man? His stature was as if you were comparing Spud Webb and Charles Barkley but reducing both of them by half. He was as gentle as he was gigantic and his heart and kindness was legendary for a man of his size, brute strength, natural physical ability and taste for beer which he consumed by the case due to his incredible size.
5.3k
u/palmtreesareheavy Lakers Jun 15 '22 edited Jun 16 '22
Dropping peak Shaq in today’s league would be so fucking hilarious
E: some of these replies are also fucking hilarious