Knowing nobody will ever play like him again....does Shaqs uniqueness help or hurt?

[Kblaze8855]

He wasn’t entirely the first guy like this....but he mostly was.....





People like Wilt and Gilmore had the physical advantages needed to play that way but they mostly didn’t. He’s as he put it....the last don dadda. I’m not sure a body style like his is likely to be featured. Coaches don’t like back to the basket. A potential Shaq would never be asked to develop into the player we knew.

Does his dominance overshadow the likely fact that he’s a relic going forward? I’m sure to those of us who remember his whole career it does. But is the basketball world gonna give Shaq his due long term as his approach gets more and more antiquated?

Can a guy looking to essentially beat the other team into respecting him enough inside to let his shooters flourish outside get the love of the generations to come?

[Kblaze8855]

Will the 30 foot pull-up, jelly layup, handle gloves, eurostep generation ever give full credit to a guy who pretty much forced you to respect him by physically kicking your ass inside in ways that would be downright illegal now?








Will people who weren’t there call that good basketball?

[Whoah10115]

The number of people who put him in or near an all-time top 5 makes it hard for me to really agree with any need for the question.

He's great but in his absolute peak he limited his game to a few decisive moves and just obliterated competition that was barely there, often with clear offensive fouls.

That downplays the fact that he's one of the greatest players ever. Add to that the fierce athleticism, terrific footwork, that impressive body control and then that efficiency from the field...

Won't be a relic.

[SouBeachTalents]

I feel like Shaq will hold up as time goes by. With his ridiculous statistical output, being the only player besides Jordan to win 3 straight FMVP's, and just the footage of him being so physically overpowering and dominant, I think it'll be difficult for future generations to diminish him like they potentially could his contemporaries like Duncan and Kobe

[DoctorP]

That Humbler vid intro makes little sense since Shaq's greatness was never in question. The guy ran over the league the first day he stepped foot in it.

[Axe]

It hurts for those whom he dunked over, especially this guy.

[DoctorP]

It hurts for those whom he dunked over, especially this guy.

[Phoenix]

Skills are built to best leverage the rules and style of the era. At a certain point you just have to judge greatness in terms of how players dominated their own era and not 'how good would they be today', because the skills needs to succeed 'today' will perpetually change. Some players skill sets have a more timeless quality while others are more era-specific and they'll be a bit worse or better depending. It's either we gonna shed the 'term all-time great' ,be smart enough to contextualize each player or just stop talking ball because we aren't.

Shaq, for his reputation as a power player, had some finesse to his game. He could do the 'black tornado' spin on the baseline to catch the defender off guard. He could baby hook off the glass. He had a little 8 foot fade he could go to a few times a night, not Olajuwan level but he could do it, mixed in with the bully ball. Remember that he could grab the ball and go coast to coast like he was trying to channel Magic in that moment, or just to show he had more to his game than the overwhelming physical dominance. Just in that first video you can see he had great footwork, he used his physical edge at the rim but the process of getting there wasn't just because he was bigger than everyone else.

I think under today's rules he would adjust fine and learn how to less gangsta baskets through force and apply a higher finesse approach. Shaq's going to be coached under modern principles. Hes not shooting 3s because I just dont think it's in his DNA. Biggest issue with him would be defensive switching which means he'd have to be more of the slimmer Orlando Shaq and less of the heftier Shaq on the Lakers. Think people have forgotten just how quick and mobile young Shaq was because we got used to the plodding 350 version the second half of his career.

[iamgine]

It's gonna hurt him. People will say his bad FT can be exploited. His pick and roll defense was bad. And he will not last that long playing that style due to faster pace nowadays. All of which have merits.

[red1]

Shaq will always be a top-tier GOAT with a top 3 all-time peak. he was literally unguardable. another player who was an unstoppable physical force and a guaranteed bucket.

[FKAri]

Ever?
You never know. Just gotta wait long enough.

[ralph_i_el]

I think that in the future, spacing will be better understood. Right now people think spacing=3 point shooting ...but that's not the case. Having a force in the post creates space on the perimeter. Shaq's Lakers were based on this. I've been watching games from the '09 playoffs, and Dwight's Magic were built around that. Giannis' Bucks are built that way now.

[Shogon]

1) Shaq is probably my pick for biggest athletic freak in league history. When you take into account his agility, quickness, coordination, jumping ability and speed... and you measure all that up against his size? I don't think anyone has ever been as naturally talented. Nobody. And I while I know for a fact he worked hard, he definitely didn't truly push himself. I truly believe if Shaq had a genuine psychosis about him that caused ridiculous work ethic, he would have been the GOAT hands down. But he didn't, so he wasn't.

2) If Shaq came into the league today, I absolutely believe he still evolves into the same player he was despite the league changes. His dominance was unparalleled and he would absolutely destroy today's big men. Are you kidding me? They're as soft as they were in 2000 if not softer. Some coach would have a brain and surround him with four shooters and it would be a different version of James Harden's Rockets from the past few years / Giannis' Bucks / LeBron's Cavs. Instead of starting from the perimeter, they'd just start from inside. It would be the same result, if not more devastating. Teams would either give up dunks and little chip shots all game long or they'd double him and he'd find the open man in a league full of three point shooters that are better than they were 20 & 30 years ago. There is nobody in the entire league right now that could guard him. Not one person. He would crush and so would his team.

[EllEffEll]

We can tell it to them, but as you see often enough with other players from bygone eras, we can't understand it for them when all they have to go by are a relative few youtube videos and a stat book.

[DoctorP]

who knows, maybe the rules will be changed again and Shaq would be a factor.

That said, the way Zion is killing it Im thinking Shaq would be a factor today, regardless, even though it doesn't seem the case at this point.