You draft players of potential.
MJ is only 6' 6".
Kareem lacks brute strength of Shaq & need Magic, Bird like floor leader.
Hakeem too.
Shaq was beast of nature. Blessed with Huge massive hands & strongest player to ever play in NBA. Even a lazy, bum Shaq will deliver atleast 3 NBA titles because 5 feet inside the paint. Shaq is absolutely UNSTOPPABLE.
Shaq can easily dominate because of his strength, brute force & huge hand size that controls the ball easily.
I see Shaq in the Draft. I'll pick him blindly over Top 5 GOATs.
Why?
Shaq "GUARANTEED" multiple titles. Others, I'm not too sure about.
Shaq had to have a great floor leader to win, too - Penny, Kobe, Wade.
Kareem and Chamberlain were both far better centers than O'Neal ever was.
If I had to choose between Shaq & Tim Duncan I would probably have nightmares over that decision.
Partially agree with you but I think Kareem's legendary success at UCLA would get him some votes over Shaq on draft night.
disagree brother!
Not every NCAA success story is guaranteed NBA Success (HINT: christian Lattner was suppose to be NEXT Larry Bird)
-With Shaq I get exactly What I see.
-Height of 7'1"
-Huge massive hands. Long Wingspan. Brute Force. Built like 3 trucks put into one.
-UNSTOPPABLE within 6 feet radius of the basket.
-Huge Hands guarantees tight ball handling in heavy traffic & one handed brutal dunks within 3 feet of the Basket.
-Nobody in the history of NBA can match this combo of Brutal force, height, wingspan, hand size & position. NOBODY !!!
I'll take it. Atleast 1 title is GUARANTEED (probably even 2 titles)!
with MJ, Magic, Bird, Kareem, Wilt, Russell, Hakeem, I am not GUARANTEED I can win atleast 1 title without Building a perfect team around them.
Shaq had to have a great floor leader to win, too - Penny, Kobe, Wade.
Kareem and Chamberlain were both far better centers than O'Neal ever was.
If I had to choose between Shaq & Tim Duncan I would probably have nightmares over that decision.
Chamberlain has half the rings Shaq has and yet he's a "far better center" than Shaq? I want a player that dominates in the Playoffs and Finals during the modern era.
Probably no one. You can say Michael Jordan was the greatest player ever but still it'd be pretty crazy to draft Jordan over Shaq had they been on board at the same time.
Probably no one. You can say Michael Jordan was the greatest player ever but still it'd be pretty crazy to draft Jordan over Shaq had they been on board at the same time.
If the draft were today? Absolutely no one in history. You have to remember that Shaq was drafted in a golden era of centers. In today's league he would absolutely dominate, even more so than during his prime years.
Who the hell would be his challenger at the C position? Dwight? Marc Gasol?
Not every NCAA success story is guaranteed NBA Success (HINT: christian Lattner was suppose to be NEXT Larry Bird)
-With Shaq I get exactly What I see.
-Height of 7'1"
-Huge massive hands. Long Wingspan. Brute Force. Built like 3 trucks put into one.
-UNSTOPPABLE within 6 feet radius of the basket.
-Huge Hands guarantees tight ball handling in heavy traffic & one handed brutal dunks within 3 feet of the Basket.
-Nobody in the history of NBA can match this combo of Brutal force, height, wingspan, hand size & position. NOBODY !!!
I'll take it. Atleast 1 title is GUARANTEED (probably even 2 titles)!
with MJ, Magic, Bird, Kareem, Wilt, Russell, Hakeem, I am not GUARANTEED I can win atleast 1 title without Building a perfect team around them.
Not ever big guy is guaranteed a success either. Look at Thabeet and Oden.
We're looking at potentially, Kareem not only has the college success backing but also size and skills too. Laettner's success was more to due with the school he went to than his skills.
And like I said, Kareem's probably the only one you can make a case to pick over Shaq. That's actually saying a lot considering how many other all-time greats there are to pick.
Shaq would be so much easier to build around, he will take his team to the playoffs no matter whom you surround him with. A team of Shaq + a legit NBA starter + 3 D-leaguers are still a playoff team. Can't say the same thing for Jordan.
It would be a crazy pick in the 80's, or 90's. It was always common to go with a potentially great Big man over a potentially great perimeter player.
Things have changed over the past 10 years or so, and all because of Jordan. He made this league a perimeter superstar league. Nowadays, you have perimeter players hyped as much, or more than big's. In '03 alone, we got LeBron, Wade and Melo. Recent years, we got Durant, Rose and Wall.
Chamberlain has half the rings Shaq has and yet he's a "far better center" than Shaq? I want a player that dominates in the Playoffs and Finals during the modern era.
Wilt had a few bad playoff games in his career - a very few - but he ALWAYS carried a full load of wood for teammates. The only truly stacked team he ever had was the '67 Sixers - that same team was ruined with injuries in the '68 playoffs.
Meanwhile that dominating Shaq...................................
1993-94 Indiana Pacers sweep Orlando Magic in first round
1994-95 Houston Rockets sweep Orlando Magic in NBA Finals
1995-96 Chicago Bulls sweep Orlando Magic in Eastern Conference Finals
1997-98 Utah Jazz sweep Los Angeles Lakers in Western Conference Finals
1998-99 San Antonio Spurs sweep Los Angeles Lakers in Western Conference
2006-07 Chicago Bulls sweep Miami Heat in first round
Rings are won by teams, no question, but Chamberlain was always able to drag teams along behind him while Shaq had a lot dismal playoff failures even with some great teammates.
Not every NCAA success story is guaranteed NBA Success (HINT: christian Lattner was suppose to be NEXT Larry Bird)
Laettner was never the GOAT college player. Mentioning him in the same breath as Alcindor is ridiculous. Attempting to equate a "success story" to GOAT level is only something people with agendas would do, as they're only interested in proving their "point" and thus don't have an issue with taking liberties with the truth.
If you look at the college GOATs, Alcindor, Walton, Russell and Robertson, they were all all-time greats in the NBA as well, with the only note being that Walton's greatness was limited to a couple of seasons due to injury, but during that brief period he was an all-time great. (On an aside, it's also a more compelling argument when a player's dominance extends to multiple levels of play. If you dominate in college and continue to dominate once you get to the pros, being a GOAT candidate on both levels, that's definitely a plus as it means their dominance is transcedent.)
Laettner was never the GOAT college player. Mentioning him in the same breath as Alcindor is ridiculous. Attempting to equate a "success story" to GOAT level is only something people with agendas would do, as they're only interested in proving their "point" and thus don't have an issue with taking liberties with the truth.
If you look at the college GOATs, Alcindor, Walton, Russell and Robertson, they were all all-time greats in the NBA as well, with the only note being that Walton's greatness was limited to a couple of seasons due to injury, but during that brief period he was an all-time great. (On an aside, it's also a more compelling argument when a player's dominance extends to multiple levels of play. If you dominate in college and continue to dominate once you get to the pros, being a GOAT candidate on both levels, that's definitely a plus as it means their dominance is transcedent.)
Re: Who would you draft over Shaq?
