It might as well be for the amount of times Joel kept ducking it.u gotta use your imagination to picture that lol. In real life Embiid up 6-2 in their matchups.
Yall talk about Denver like its Narnia
"2001 Shaq vs 2025 Nikola Jokic, what happens?" Shaq: "Slovenian chicken... Imma make his brothers want to fight me."
- Thread starter ajnapoleon
- Start date
Flex Grossman
Funky
One of us doesn’t need our imagination to know what it’s like for our franchise center to make it out the second roundu gotta use your imagination to picture that lol. In real life Embiid up 6-2 in their matchups.
Yall talk about Denver like its Narnia
malbaker86
Gators
Who cares. Who has accomplished more individually?
Shaq loves Jokic. He did the same to Jamal Murray weeks ago and he came out and dropped 40Shaq comes out hating and Jokic drops 61. At this point I think Shaq just does it on purpose so he can see him put on a show.
I didn't say Shaq wouldn't dominate. I just said that he wouldn't treat him like Chris Dudley and make him look like a bytchGames Played Between Shaquille O'Neal and Arvydas Sabonis
This is the detail of NBA games in which Shaquille O'Neal and Arvydas Sabonis played against each other, including head-to-head record, stats average, game highs and game-by-game data both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.www.landofbasketball.com
Shaq averaged 28 and 12 to Sabonis 10 and 7. Shaq’s teams went 23-16 against his teams
It depends on how the game is reffed. A lot of things the perimeter players get away with, they would struggle with the 2000s refs. I can see Denver guards just struggling to extreme degrees. That said, Jokic would find it nice on defense with what he could get away with and how much refs swallowed the whistle. Denver would lose in 7 in 2001 rules and refs. They would still struggle with Shaq but they will just let him cook and sellout to stop others.
In 2025 rules, LAL would sweep the Nuggets in 4. The refs aren't super kind to post players but compared to the 2001, it's night and day and the reason for that is, there is no Shaq. You put Shaq into the 2025 style of the NBA and he's putting your whole team in foul trouble, ASAP. I think Prime Shaq would break the modern NBA but than again, they would nerf the shyt out of him like they did in the 90s and 2000s.
The one reason why Shaq, KAJ, and Wilt should always be in the GOAT convo is that they had to nerf them. The league had to nerf them. The league hasn't nerfed Jokic. That's where Shaq gets the adv.
In 2025 rules, LAL would sweep the Nuggets in 4. The refs aren't super kind to post players but compared to the 2001, it's night and day and the reason for that is, there is no Shaq. You put Shaq into the 2025 style of the NBA and he's putting your whole team in foul trouble, ASAP. I think Prime Shaq would break the modern NBA but than again, they would nerf the shyt out of him like they did in the 90s and 2000s.
The one reason why Shaq, KAJ, and Wilt should always be in the GOAT convo is that they had to nerf them. The league had to nerf them. The league hasn't nerfed Jokic. That's where Shaq gets the adv.
I mean, Shaq got swept by front lines/center rotations of Greg Ostertag and Adam Keefe
Hell, in the hypothetical where Shaq just kicks Jokic's ass from beginning to end... does Shaq still get a top 3 superstar hof shooting guard to take all the clutch 4th quarter shots and hit all the freethrows, flanked by dead-eye Horry and Fisher to hit all the series-saving shots? Pretty important, since being an unreliable front-runner who couldn't take the last shot (bc he couldn't shoot) was the big criticism levied against Shaq... a handi-cap that no longer mattered once Kobe became Kobe.
I get that it's been well over 20 years since "Shaq and Kobe" and over half the ppl in this thread never actually watched them play in real time nightly with the same microscope they use to dissect current teams and players...but for those of us who did... (and can recall that his career didn't just start in 1999/2000...) Shaq was great just like Giannis is great but oooh boy imagine how all of Giannis's shortcomings would disappear over time if he was traded to OKC and they went on to 3-peat with SGA as his "sidekick".
Excellent post
Roger king
Superstar
I will take the one that is not a cone of defense and one of the worst rim protectors in his position.
Duncan outplayed Shaq in their head to heads.
www.landofbasketball.com
Not inconceivable jokic could do the same
Games Played Between Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal
This is the detail of NBA games in which Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal played against each other, including head-to-head record, stats average, game highs and game-by-game data both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.
www.landofbasketball.com
Not inconceivable jokic could do the same
Long Live The Kane
Tyrant Titan
Except for the fact Duncan is one of the greatest defensive big men of all time, and Jokic is terrible rim protector….Duncan outplayed Shaq in their head to heads.
Games Played Between Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal
This is the detail of NBA games in which Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal played against each other, including head-to-head record, stats average, game highs and game-by-game data both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.
Not inconceivable jokic could do the same
Peak Shaq is 100% destroying Jokic in the paint…he’s either giving up 40+ on ridiculous efficiency, giving up open 3s all game from all the hard doubles they’d have to send to the post, or (most likely scenario) spend large stretches of the night on the bench in foul trouble because shaq’s combination of strength, size, speed and touch is like nothing he sees in today’s game…today’s game where he already gives ups ridiculous numbers at the rim
All that to say it’s not impossible for Jokic to outplay Shaq in some hypothetical match up….but it’s not gonna have jack shyt to do with how Duncan played against him
Went up against means what when you didn't stop them.
@courtsidebuzzig on Instagram: "29 years ago today, on this date, June 14, 1995, Hakeem Olajuwon & the Houston Rockets became back-to-back champions after sweeping Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway & the Orlando Magic, 4-0! 🏆🏆 Olajuwon: 32.8 PPG, 11.
1,715 likes, 33 comments - courtsidebuzzig on June 14, 2024: "29 years ago today, on this date, June 14, 1995, Hakeem Olajuwon & the Houston Rockets became back-to-back champions after sweeping Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway & the Orlando Magic, 4-0! 🏆🏆 Olajuwon: 32.8 PPG, 11.5 REB, 5.5 AST...
www.instagram.com
Shaq will get his numbers. Jokic will get his numbers. There's isn't really a debate to be had.
They weren’t guarding each other full time. Duncan was playing PF and was matched up against the Horace Grants and Robert Horrys. Shaq was going against the David Robinson and Rasho Nesterivic (or however you spell his name).Duncan outplayed Shaq in their head to heads.
Games Played Between Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal
This is the detail of NBA games in which Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal played against each other, including head-to-head record, stats average, game highs and game-by-game data both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.
Not inconceivable jokic could do the same