Shaq Hating on a Younger Player For the 100th Time

[ball15life]

So you're telling me there are other 7'1" 330 lbs behemouths with incredible strength, quickness, and agility roaming all over the NBA today?

Rules have nothing to do with it. Shaq is just a once in a lifetime talent. The reason his style isn't around anymore ha to do with how rare he is as a physical specimen. If a young Shaq walked into today's NBA he would play the exact same way he did in the 90s and early 00s and he would be even more dominant.

This era would have no chance against him.

I'd tend to agree with this. Combine that with having a few shooters as his teammates and he'd average at least 30 and 8. He might get worked on the defensive end, depending on what type of center he is playing against, but that paint defense would be immaculate.

I think Shaq is as emotional as they come, but let's be real here. Dude was a monster

 

[Jesus Is Lord]

Find me a quote of Shaq saying he's the best or GOAT. I've never heard him utter those words. In fact I've heard him say Kobe (the guy some claim he carried to 3 rings) deserves to be in the GOAT conversation ahead of LeBron. Its a convo he has never injected himself into. IMO he should be in that conversation but the fact he's never put himself in there is why he has my respect.

With regard to what he means by "most dominant", that is simply your opinion. Shaq said himself his goal was never to be "the best". He was content with simply winning one ring and getting back to making movies and rap albums. In the conversation with Kobe on NBA TV a few years back, he said the only thing that motivated him to go for 2 straight was people in the media doubting him. When I hear him say "most dominant" I believe he is talking about his playing style. His brute strength and power simply overpowered opponents like nobody we've ever seen. So in that sense he is the most dominant. I do not think he meant most dominant in terms of accomplishments like titles and MVPs. That would be Michael Jordan if we were talking about "most dominant" in that context.

Your first sentence tells me that you aren’t paying attention to what I said. I never said that he actually called himself the best or the GOAT, so why ask me for a quote?

Once again, you’re going on what Shaq says. He speaks up for Kobe for 3 reasons, one, Kobe’s work cannot be denied, two he never questioned Kobe’s game/skill, and lastly, he does it to save face and not seem like the jealous hater he was to Kobe. You really can’t read between the lines? This is the same dude who swears to this DAY, that the Kobe feud wasn’t personal, just purely MARKETING. Right, okay.

When speaking on my sense of the word dominant and how Shaq uses it, you chalk it up to as it simply being my “opinion”, but then you continue to go on giving YOUR opinion like it’s gospel. Smh. Close minded.

Keep believing anything Shaq says despite all of the jealous, and insecure material he’s been giving us since his days in Orlando up until now. I’ll continue to base my “opinions” on the material presented, whether subtle and not so subtle.

I pray that you don’t believe Santa brought you those gifts as a kid. Lol!

 

[mr. smoke weed]

Idk man...I’ve never seen Kobe hate on a young player. Only thing close to it I can remember he’s him saying Arenas took bad shots after losing to the Wizards.

but I’ve never heard him shyt on young players like shaq.

I'm not trying to throw shade on Kobe. But it was well known he was viewed as a sub par team mate (off the court) for quite some time, He had major beef with Smush Parker, I'm sure others if I could google (it doesn't matter). They both had GOAT style personalities. Shaqs has extended into his retirement

 

[CarltonJunior]

Why did he tag Killa is this though?

Either he's quoting his lyrics or maybe killa was talking shyt idk

 

[CarltonJunior]

How the hell has Mitchell Robinson never heard of Hakeem?

If that nikka played any NBA 2k after 2k12 he should know hakeem

 

[Joe Sixpack]

Its not even trash talking. Its truth.

Shaq destroyed Dikembe Mutombo who was a better version of Gobert. Both were not very strong but had great length and got a lot of weakside blocks. Centers like that never bothered Shaq.

According to Shaq's own words the guys who gave him the biggest problems were Derrick Coleman and Brian "Big Country" Reeves. Both guys who had a lot of mass and could physically much Shaq's brute strength.

Shaq would eat Rudy Gobert alive. He told nothing but absolute truth in that post.

Can’t believe I dapped this dude

 

[Dwight Howard]

THE
GAME
IS
NOT
PLAYED
THAT
WAY
IN
2021



You don't get enough expected value playing that way.
Do you understand any mathematical concepts at all?

Dude shut up. Shaq would dominate today's league playing the exact way he did. There are plenty of teams that still implement post-ups, they just don't have a talent like shaq to abuse it consistently. If you can't see this you don't know shyt about basketball.

 

[Primetime]

To be fair,

peak Dikembe was 11.5ppg 14rpg 3bpg in 36mpg

peak Rudy is 15ppg 13.5rpg 2bpg in 34mpg

So it's not so much of whether they could "stop" prime Shaq but how valuable would a team find that type of production + the defensive intangibles.

Pistons didn't want to pay Ben Wallace big money after numerous DPotYs, anchoring a team with back 2 back finals appearances (beating Shaq teams both years), and a 60+ win ECFs run in 06. But Ben was undersized and a worse free throw shooter and finisher at the rim than Dik/Rudy.. and was turning 32 in 2007.

If he was still 26... maybe he gets a near max despite being an 8ppg 12rpg 2bpg type dude.

 

[dh86]

To be fair,

peak Dikembe was 11.5ppg 14rpg 3bpg in 36mpg

peak Rudy is 15ppg 13.5rpg 2bpg in 34mpg

So it's not so much of whether they could "stop" prime Shaq but how valuable would a team find that type of production + the defensive intangibles.

Pistons didn't want to pay Ben Wallace big money after numerous DPotYs, anchoring a team with back 2 back finals appearances (beating Shaq teams both years), and a 60+ win ECFs run in 06. But Ben was undersized and a worse free throw shooter and finisher at the rim than Dik/Rudy.. and was turning 32 in 2007.

If he was still 26... maybe he gets a near max despite being an 8ppg 12rpg 2bpg type dude.

Swag knows that’s what the discussion is, he shifted the scope to get a ‘win’ in the argument. That’s why we’re so harsh on him fukking up threads.

 

[dh86]

Dude shut up. Shaq would dominate today's league playing the exact way he did. There are plenty of teams that still implement post-ups, they just don't have a talent like shaq to abuse it consistently. If you can't see this you don't know shyt about basketball.

Shaq declining significantly in the mid 00s as soon as rule changes set in was coincidence, huh? Look at Tim Duncan career stats and look at the time his numbers dropped for good. Shaq knows players CANT play the same way he did so he uses that to gloat and have some sort of validation. Oscar Robertson & Bill Russell could do the exact same thing but chooses not to because they are secure and are men.

 

[Dwight Howard]

Shaq declining significantly in the mid 00s as soon as rule changes set in was coincidence, huh? Look at Tim Duncan career stats and look at the time his numbers dropped for good. Shaq knows players CANT play the same way he did so he uses that to gloat and have some sort of validation. Oscar Robertson & Bill Russell could do the exact same thing but chooses not to because they are secure and are men.

Shaq's decline was due to a lack of work ethic and body discipline. He was never as skilled as Duncan or a KG but he relied much more on his size and athleticism. Eventually he became too fat and slow. Keep in mind, shaq was 33 with that heat championship team. Far removed from his prime.

 

[Swagnificent]

Your first sentence tells me that you aren’t paying attention to what I said. I never said that he actually called himself the best or the GOAT, so why ask me for a quote?

Once again, you’re going on what Shaq says. He speaks up for Kobe for 3 reasons, one, Kobe’s work cannot be denied, two he never questioned Kobe’s game/skill, and lastly, he does it to save face and not seem like the jealous hater he was to Kobe. You really can’t read between the lines? This is the same dude who swears to this DAY, that the Kobe feud wasn’t personal, just purely MARKETING. Right, okay.

When speaking on my sense of the word dominant and how Shaq uses it, you chalk it up to as it simply being my “opinion”, but then you continue to go on giving YOUR opinion like it’s gospel. Smh. Close minded.

Keep believing anything Shaq says despite all of the jealous, and insecure material he’s been giving us since his days in Orlando up until now. I’ll continue to base my “opinions” on the material presented, whether subtle and not so subtle.

I pray that you don’t believe Santa brought you those gifts as a kid. Lol!

I agree with you that Shaq is jealous and petty. But I think you extend it to areas I don't think it belongs. For one I believe great players respect other great players. So at the very top if guys see you as their peer, they won't take shots at your game. I was only defending Shaq on this front. I do not believe he takes shots at guys he knows are dope and maybe better than him. He will pick on guys he thinks are beneath him like Gobert. But the idea he hates on players who he perceived as better than him cause he wants to stand atop some mythical GOAT list is all i was disagreeing with. Shaq is jealous and petty. But even he has limits on that.

And yes the stuff about what he means by most dominant is just my opinion. But I do think my way of reading that is closer to how most people think about the title Most Dominant Ever than yours. When Stephen A Smith for example says it on ESPN I believe he uses it in the context of Shaq's playing style rather than his accolades because I've never seen Stephen A argue Shaq is the greatest of all-time or even in that debate.

 

[hazardous]

Why do people constantly talk about the greatest moment in some old head's career and pretend that's how they played every series?

I remember prime Shaq looking very average against Vlade Divac and Scot Pollard. I remember 6'8" 230lb Brian Grant getting mad reps against prime Shaq in a series the Blazers almost won. If they can handle him, why not Gobert?

Since when is averaging 30/14/2 "very average"? And where is the proof that Brian Grant was having success guarding Shaq? It would be interesting if you could provide actual stats that show Shaq's FG/FGA against Grant strictly because I watched Game 6 of that series some time ago and Doug Collins, who was on commentary, was mentioning how Grant was having trouble guarding Shaq the entire series

 

[Homer Simpson]

people on here get really mad when people have questions about how weak the league is now.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Since when is averaging 30/14/2 "very average"? And where is the proof that Brian Grant was having success guarding Shaq? It would be interesting if you could provide actual stats that show Shaq's FG/FGA against Grant strictly because I watched Game 6 of that series some time ago and Doug Collins, who was on commentary, was mentioning how Grant was having trouble guarding Shaq the entire series

In the 2002 WCF Shaq averaged 30ppg on 53% shooting while being guarded by Divac and Pollard. And the numbers would have been even worse (not to mention the Lakers would have lost in 6) if Divac and Pollard weren't hit with a huge string of mystery fouls that famously kept LA alive in the series. That is nothing like the narrative here that he would score 40-45ppg if you put anyone on him who weighed less than 280 lbs. He was barely making half his shots even with the phantom foul calls that erased his misses.

In the 2000 WCF Shaq only averaged 26ppg on 53% shooting. He played 320 minutes in that series, while 35yo Sabonis played just 220 minutes and the rest of the time Shaq was mostly guarded by Brian Grant (the only other people who defended Shaq in that series were 225lb Sheed, who hated defending bigs, and little-used 21yo 225lb Jermaine O'Neal, who only averaged 3 minutes/game). And again, if it wasn't for a famously suspect string of phantom fouls against Sabonis and Grant, Shaq's numbers would have been even worse.

Shaq only scored 18 in the critical game 7, which the Lakers were getting blown out in until the 4th quarter (with the help of the refs fouling Pippen and Sabonis out of the game on mystery calls and a big run of other bullshyt). He made just 5 field goals in the game, 3 on Sabonis and 2 on Grant.

The idea that Shaq dominated whenever he wanted is a myth. Even in his absolute prime, he had a lot of very human series.