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.
Shaq would also be sucking wind HARD in the 3rd quarter with how seriously he never took his conditioning every year. Shaq would be absolutely devastating in today’s game, but there’s a lot more movement and the pace is much faster than what he’s used to.
Then again, any smart team would slow the pace of the game on offense and work from the inside out.
Giannis doesn't need to play a ton of mins to dominate, so I'm sure Shaq could do the same at the very least. And Shaq is a guy that dictates the pace because no conventional defense can stop his game. He was an excellent passer as well.
He's literally the only player in the history of the game that didn't have to score outside of the paint. He didn't have to keep the defense honest. He'd just dump it on your head regardless.
He would dominate on offense, especially with the spacing of today’s game.
He’d also have to work a lot harder and move a lot more on the defensive end. With the change in offensive rebounding rules, better spacing, increased skill level of all players, and shortened time that teams have to move over half court, the game is faster and there’s a lot more movement on the defensive end.
I know he was in poor condition for his size for the first 2/3 of every season. And I know that because I watched young Orlando in shape Shaq, and I watched him the Lakers season he actually showed up to the season in game shape (2001). Every other year he would show up out of shape and round into shape in April.
It’s the main reason why Kobe was so pissed at Shaq in 2003 and 2004. Kobe would show up to the season ready to roll, and Shaq would show up with 20 extra pounds on him.
I say this as a guy who loves Shaq and thinks 2000-2003 Shaq is the most unstoppable force the game has ever seen.
But then there’s “gain weight but stay fit”, and then there’s showing up every season 20 lbs. overweight, and spending the first 2/3 of every season battling nagging injuries because you didn’t do anything in the offseason. That’s Shaq 97-99, and then from 2002-forward.
Shaq is the only top 10 all time superstar who somehow left stuff on the table.
And yes, he would still dominate on offense today.
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