For fans of NBA history, there’s always a fun discussion (argument?) to be had over current vs. past players. Who would come out on top in a battle of those OG’s – in their prime, of course – against current stars. Not surprisingly, our man Shaq has some definite beliefs on that question.
O’Neal shared his thoughts and feelings on the latest edition of his “The Big Podcast with Shaq” that dropped this past weekend (as of this writing). The Big Man said that in recent years, rules of the game and the way its officiated have taken a strong swing in favor of protecting offensive players and penalizing strong defense.
Of course we all know that Shaq was a complete beast in his playing days. He was certainly one of the most dominant players of his – or any other – time in the game. Still, with today’s rules that give even more protection to offensive players, what would he have looked like in today’s game?
Not surprisingly, O’Neal says he would have been even MORE dominant with today’s rules. Still, all that protection for offensive players has a downside, too. Shaq said he feels today’s rules are – in his words – hurting the overall game.
Shaq: “I think it’s hurting the game. It’s a old saying, if it’s not broke do not fix it. I think a lot of times these rules changes because people are complaining. It’s a lot of guys being mentioned now and only a few you can pick from this dimension and bring them in. LeBron, Steph guys like that, but I’m mentioned with the old aliens. So like people always, you hating, you hating. It’s not that I’m hating, I wish I was playing with these buttercups right now, I wish I was. I promise you I wish I was playing. Ah, it’ll be a slaughterhouse up there.”
Buttercups! Wow… Still, the big man is probably right. Back in his power-days, O’Neal was a force of nature on the court. On defense, he swatted away shots in bunches, but it was on offense where he was – for the most part – completely unstoppable. Not only that, he had the advantage of playing with guys like Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade who could stretch the floor and add scoring from the outside.
Things are different in today’s game. Today’s big men are not only powerful in the paint, but also have the ability to dribble-drive, as well as shoot the three-pointer. Guys like Karl-Anthony Towns, Zion Williamson, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid are just some of the players with the abilities to scorch defenses from both the perimeter and in the paint.
So it certainly makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Who would win a defensive battle between O’Neal and a player like Antetokounmpo? Or for that matter, any of the other bigs in today’s Association. We may never know, even though it makes for a great game of speculation in the off-season.