How would Shaq rank in today's NBA?

[Manu&Duncan fan]

Offense: A+; PR defense: D. But I would still rank him top 10 in today's NBA. What do you guys think?

[widowmaker]

Hold on man let me login to the laker forum ill ask there once I get response I’ll comeback in to let you know.

[Joseph Kony]

Shaq would be so dominant on offense his defense wouldn't matter. Plus when he was young he was pretty damn nimble for being so huge. There is not a C in today's game that could match up with him on D, maybe Embiid but thats it. Diesel would be fun to watch in todays soft league tbh

[KingKev]

Mid 90s Shaq would average 40 and 20 even whilst shooting 20% from the FT line in the current NBA. His skill set transcends to any vintage of basketball.

[cjw]

I wonder if peak Shaq would have lasted longer in today’s day and age of load management and more investment being made in bodies.

[Uriel]

He would be nothing more than a Roy Hibbert.

[baseline bum]

Would be hilarious seeing him guarded by the likes of Draymond Green. Prime Shaq flushing on him for 10 minutes straight until Green fouled out would be awesome to watch.

[LeBowen]

If Jokic can get MVP with his atrocious defense, Shaq wouldn't be that bad of a defender.
Not to mention that current DPOY is getting exposed on PNR in the playoffs.


And it would be hillarious to watch him shit on every single big in today's league.

[Neo.]

1v1 matchups he would dominate like he always did

consistently getting clean looks is another story. see 2004 finals. zone defenses and shading (which was outlawed prior to 2003) affected him far more than people realize. one on one, he made mincemeat of ben wallace. but he struggled to consistently get that matchup deep in the post, he was constantly swarmed in ways he had never seen before, and entry passes into him were affected heavily.

his inability to face up and attack an opponent made it much tougher for him to adjust, compared to a guy like tim. i think shaq would still be great but wouldn't dominate quite the same way, especially against elite defenses.

[XDT76]

Shaq would single handedly stop the 6-8 centre and 6-6 power forward trend of today. If he can dominate the boys of 90s and 00s he would be virtually unstoppable today. His team would have to play more zone defence though.

[paperboy77]

1v1 matchups he would dominate like he always did

consistently getting clean looks is another story. see 2004 finals. zone defenses and shading (which was outlawed prior to 2003) affected him far more than people realize. one on one, he made mincemeat of ben wallace. but he struggled to consistently get that matchup deep in the post, he was constantly swarmed in ways he had never seen before, and entry passes into him were affected heavily.

his inability to face up and attack an opponent made it much tougher for him to adjust, compared to a guy like tim. i think shaq would still be great but wouldn't dominate quite the same way, especially against elite defenses.

Imagine if he was surrounded by 3 point shooters. I think that would nullify that zone defense.

[widowmaker]

I think Tim Duncan is better and he would dominate today’s NBA.

[lefty]

Would be a bigger DeAndre Jordan

[Dex]

Can't shoot the three or make free throws. Character issues, throws other teammates under the bus. Came into camp out of shape, not a hard worker.

Might be a 2nd round pick.

[Down Under]

He wouldn't be able to play. He'd score 50ppg but give up 60 in open 3s & layups. Put him in a PnR every possession & he'd be unplayable.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

shaq would fucking dominate on offense

on defense he'd get rebounds and blocks; if the other team tries to abuse him on pnr, easily fixable by going to zone and surrounding him with d (and 3) guys

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

he wouldn't need a kobe to dominate because he could carry the team by himself offensively

dunk dunk dunk dunk dunk dunk dunk dunk dunk

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

lol in a league where fucking zion goes for 27 and 7 -- shaq with 6 inches and 40 pounds on him would average 40 and 15

[lefty]

he would be useless against zone defense :lol

:lol people who think he would dominate today, smh

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

he would be useless against zone defense :lol

:lol people who think he would dominate today, smh

lmao how would he be useless against zone defense

just another punk standing there to get dunked on

[TDMVPDPOY]

snaq will get his offensive numbers, problem will be defending bigs who can shoot...he either be force to defend step out of the key or just play a zone limit his fouls.....

then again ppl can hack a snaq and send him to teh ft line

[Fusternino]

1995 Shaq? MVP.

[Maddog]

Would be hilarious seeing him guarded by the likes of Draymond Green. Prime Shaq flushing on him for 10 minutes straight until Green fouled out would be awesome to watch.

Malik Rose guarded him not great, but decent. The low center of gravity helped since shanq had little range and wasn't going to shoot over him
I was always bothered by Shaq's game. He might be hampered today because they are more likely to call an offensive foul.

[John B]

A dominant player would always change the lanscape of the game. Shaq would dunk on everybody, and it would not be hard to surround him with shooters specially playing for attractive Lakers market. Curry changed the style to small ball, faster tempo. Spurs twin tower is so dominant, they could hold any opponents to 80’s and made it a grind game. If it’s close, both Timmy/Drob could always score on anyone on the last possession.

Yup I see Shaq dunking on everybody averaging 50 pts in today’s weak defense. Teams would starting stocking on big defender slowing the tempo of the game.

[Proxy]

higher than td, lower than admiral

[ismael-robert]

Who cares...go outside

[dbestpro]

Speaking of centers a young Chamberlin would have been awesome to watch in today's NBA. In warmups they said he would routinely hit 8 out of 10 shots from what would be the three point area. He had a higher verticle than Jordan, was a track athlete and could bench 550 pounds which is 85 pounds more than Shaq. He once blocked a shot with such force he broke the opposing center's arm. Imagine what he could do with modern training techniques.

[Dirks_Finale]

He would be 25/10 or greater, easy. But those numbers would be more like Kevin Love - empty stats. Certain nights you just could not afford to keep him on the floor.

But, early days Shaq was more mobile and could defend the pnr and 3 point line if need be. His conditioning in this era would be key to him staying on the floor.

[lefty]

He would be 25/10 or greater, easy. But those numbers would be more like Kevin Love - empty stats. Certain nights you just could not afford to keep him on the floor.

But, early days Shaq was more mobile and could defend the pnr and 3 point line if need be. His conditioning in this era would be key to him staying on the floor.
:lmao

[Chomag]

Most of these top players of old would destroy these kids today because unlike them, they knew how to play basketball.


Just look at Timmy for example, even at the later of his career he was doing just fine at embarrassing these younger generation of players until his knees gave out.

[Dirks_Finale]

True on Duncan because he had virtually no weaknesses.



Most of these top players of old would destroy these kids today because unlike them, they knew how to play basketball.


Just look at Timmy for example, even at the later of his career he was doing just fine at embarrassing these younger generation of players until his knees gave out.

[widowmaker]

Old Man Duncan shit all over these kids. Was shitting all over the warriettes. Curry said he sighed a breath of air when Sir Duncan retired. :lol :lol

Prime Duncan would 8 peat on these shrimps. :lol



True, true. Fuck shaq btw this is a Spurs forum

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

True, true. Fuck shaq btw this is a Spurs forum

yes, yes, the baseline stance is fuck Shaq.

but also shaq would dominate in any nba

[Dex]

yes, yes, the baseline stance is fuck Shaq.

but also shaq would dominate in any nba

Yeah, there was no answer for prime Shaq back in the late 90s and early 2000s when the center position was actually valued and guys were still allowed to play physical, hand-check, etc.

With the way everyone has gone to small ball, Shaq would literally break teams down now. That includes the current Spurs squad. Does anyone really think Poeltl or Eubanks would be able to do anything to stop Shaq?

That said, old & busted Shaq (from his late Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland days) wasn't the same force on offense and would get roasted on defense. His peak was crazy, but he fell off the cliff hard.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Yeah, there was no answer for prime Shaq back in the late 90s and early 2000s when the center position was actually valued and guys were still allowed to play physical, hand-check, etc.

With the way everyone has gone to small ball, Shaq would literally break teams down now. That includes the current Spurs squad. Does anyone really think Poeltl or Eubanks would be able to do anything to stop Shaq?

That said, old & busted Shaq (from his late Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland days) wasn't the same force on offense and would get roasted on defense. His peak was crazy, but he fell off the cliff hard.


The current philosophy of all-3-pointers-all-day would have to be changed (as well as the rules of the game) if we still had the talented centers in the league that we had back in the Robinson-Hakeem-Shaq-Ewing days.

It's really quite boring these days, because every team is doing basically the same thing. Maybe the average fan likes the 130-125 scores, but it's pretty lame basketball, and lacks in creativity. It used to be cool to see the Spurs strategize to play the big teams, or the fast teams, or the half court teams. Now you just have to defend and shoot the three and it's small ball all day. Kind of sucks, tbh.

[widowmaker]

yes, yes, the baseline stance is fuck Shaq.

but also shaq would dominate in any nba


Who the hell is this “shaq” people talk about? Ive never heard of such a thing. Regardless I have a gut feeling of whatever this thing is its a piece of shit.

[baseline bum]

True on Duncan because he had virtually no weaknesses.

Not true, he basically played on one good leg from 00-01 on after a meniscus tear.

[daslicer]

Not true, he basically played on one good leg from 00-01 on after a meniscus tear.

To me Duncan was fine until after '06. After '06 is when he started to experience problems with that knee that he had earlier experienced the meniscus tear with. The main problem with the meniscus tear is that it starts to have effect on the knee once you hit your 30's. Wade,Westbrook all had the same injury and were fine until they hit their 30's. Westbrook looks like he's now slowing down.

There is now a new surgery players take to repair a torn meniscus so it doesn't shorten their careers but the surgery forces you to sit out for about a year. I remember Jaren Jackson had the surgery a year ago after tearing his meniscus in the bubble and pretty much missed the whole entire '19-'20 season. I wonder if that surgery was available back then in '00 how much of a difference it would have had on Duncan's career. Him sitting out the '00-'01 season wouldn't have made a difference since no one was going to beat the Lakers that year anyways but imagine if Duncan had 2 good knees throughout his 30's how much more dominant he would have been.