David Robinson or Shaquille O'Neal

[A.H 21-50]

D-Rob was always my favorite player

We will never know what he could have do with a better team when he was in his 20's

[Bob Lanier]

Uh, you guys do know that everyone that has played with Shaq, LOVED playing with him. Unlike Kobe...

If the best player he's ever played with is an exception, how can that even remotely be true?

[Bob Lanier]

Poor mans Dirk?

With the ball in his hands in a halfcourt set, yes, I don't think that's an unfair comparison. He didn't have Dirk's range or his mental toughness. He was substantially quicker and got more points in transition, though.

[stretch]

Uh, you guys do know that everyone that has played with Shaq, LOVED playing with him. Unlike Kobe...

Uh, you must not have done your research. Why is it that every team he destroyed, he was called out for the same reasons by his best teammate (Penny, Kobe, Wade) for being fat, lazy, and not committed to winning? I would rather play with a jerk who is at least working their ass off to win, as opposed to someone who refuses to get surgery in the offseason to come back as healthy as possible because he "got injured on company time thus should have to have surgery on company time as well". what a . shaq. the ONLY reason i want the Lakers to win it all is so they and Kobe can send a big " YOU" to Shaq, proving they could win without his fat ass, while he needed referees and Dwayne Wade to carry his lazy ass to a championship he didnt deserve.

[cornbread]

Shaq over David except for the very last of the twilight years.

[Bob Lanier]

[Wilt and Russell] arent [better than David Robinson].

Thats my point. There weren't any "freak of an athlete" type players back then, whereas today, the league is LOADED with athleticism

Only cuz he played in like a 10 team league full of unathletic white guys. And how many 7 footers did he have to combat? the biggest, baddest guy he had to face was Bill Russell, who was barely 6'9, and often times would give him the business. Wilt was a nice player, but would get murdered by guys like Hakeem, or Shaq.

many players who are [athletically] superior to Wilt, such as Dwight Howard.

Give me Duncan any day [over Wilt].

How would his scrawny ass have fared trying to guard Shaq? Also, even though he was old when Hakeem came in, didn't Hakeem own him? Personally I think Kareem was a little overrated.

Look, I realize your team didn't exist until the 80s and most of its fans probably didn't arrive until the Cuban era, but that's really no excuse for blithe ignorance. If you don't know what you're talking about - and if you're going to say Dwight Howard is a superior athlete to Wilt Chamberlain, or that Shaq is a better player than Kareem, I somehow doubt you watched two of those men play - really, why say anything?

Wilt is massively overrated by his inflated stats.

This is true, but it does not justify any of your other statements.

[DazedAndConfused]

How would his scrawny ass have fared trying to guard Shaq? Also, even though he was old when Hakeem came in, didn't Hakeem own him? Personally I think Kareem was a little overrated.

Nobody in the history of the NBA could have stopped a prime Shaq.

[baseline bum]

How would his scrawny ass have fared trying to guard Shaq? Also, even though he was old when Hakeem came in, didn't Hakeem own him? Personally I think Kareem was a little overrated.

Abdul-Jabbar was a pretty sick athlete, and he was Finals MVP at 38 years old. Kareem might be the most underrated player in NBA history, simply because he was an asshole who everyone hated. You're never going to see another player come in and dominate for the first 18 years of his career like he did. By his 20th year in the league, he was still at worst the 3rd or 4th best center.

[Cry Havoc]

Nobody in the history of the NBA could have stopped a prime Shaq.

Yep. It's hard to stop a 320 pound center who's allowed to completely obliterate you with his elbow and hips, wait for you to fall down, and then dunk over you.

I agree. Unstoppable.

[mavs>spurs2]

Look, I realize your team didn't exist until the 80s and most of its fans probably didn't arrive until the Cuban era, but that's really no excuse for blithe ignorance. If you don't know what you're talking about - and if you're going to say Dwight Howard is a superior athlete to Wilt Chamberlain, or that Shaq is a better player than Kareem, I somehow doubt you watched two of those men play - really, why say anything?


This is true, but it does not justify any of your other statements.

You seriously think Kareem could stop Shaq in the post? He's giving up about 100 pounds, not to mention Shaq is 10 times stronger. If no one could touch Shaq in his prime, why would skinny Kareem do any better?

[stretch]

Look, I realize your team didn't exist until the 80s and most of its fans probably didn't arrive until the Cuban era, but that's really no excuse for blithe ignorance. If you don't know what you're talking about - and if you're going to say Dwight Howard is a superior athlete to Wilt Chamberlain, or that Shaq is a better player than Kareem, I somehow doubt you watched two of those men play - really, why say anything?

When did I say Shaq is a better player than Kareem? I just said I think Kareem is a tad overrated by some people. and I think Hakeem is the best all-around center of all time.

And if you are going to say Wilt is hands down the superior athlete to Dwight Howard (which is what you seem to be implying), I somehow doubt you know what the you are talking about - really, why say anything?

[stretch]

Yep. It's hard to stop a 320 pound center who's allowed to completely obliterate you with his elbow and hips, wait for you to fall down, and then dunk over you.

I agree. Unstoppable.

Kinda like Duncan uses his hand to hold people down at their waists to get easy shot blocks, or Parker pushing off when he drives, after already getting away with traveling. Everyone has their dirty tricks they get away with. It's part of the game.

[balli]

I haven't read a single post, because it's a ridiculous question.

Shaq. In both cases. No Debate.

[LakeShow]

Who would you rather have on you're team and who do you think is a better player overall?

\

Is this a trick question? It has to be because there is no comparison with these two. Shaq, without a doubt!

[mardigan]

D-Rob is one of my favorite players of all time, but its not even close. Shaq by a mile.

[Cry Havoc]

Kinda like Duncan uses his hand to hold people down at their waists to get easy shot blocks, or Parker pushing off when he drives, after already getting away with traveling. Everyone has their dirty tricks they get away with. It's part of the game.

That's like saying poking someone in the eye is equivalent to running them over with a MAC truck. But yeah, I see your point.

[stretch]

That's like saying poking someone in the eye is equivalent to running them over with a MAC truck. But yeah, I see your point.

Indeed. Only its sports we are talking about. Not gouging people's eyes out and running them over with trucks.

Fail, mother er.

[DDS4]

I love DRob to death but Shaq in his prime was unstoppable.

Plus the fact refs didn't know how to call calls vs./against Shaq because he was so dominant.

[Mr. Peabody]

I'm a die-hard Spurs fan and think DRob is a great center, but he was never close to being as dominant as Shaq was in his prime. The fact that Shaq only won one MVP is a travesty. The guy dominated the league between 1993 and 2004.

The only thing that kept Shaq from being the most dominant player is league history was the fact that he is too lazy. Had he worked harder and cared more, the guy would have had 8 rings by now.

[SRJ]

First of all, understand this about Wilt. Athletically, he compares favorably to any players in NBA history. His strength was at least equal to Shaq's and his vertical was even better than Dwight Howard's. If he came along today, he'd average 30-32 ppg in his peak seasons and 26-28 for a career, with rebounds in the 15-16 peak range and a career of about 12. And blocked shots? One statisitician of Wilt's day estimated that Wilt averaged about 5.5 for his career (they weren't kept officially in Wilt's day), so in today's game Wilt would probably average 3-3.5 for a career, which is outstanding. Anecdotally, Earl Strom believed Chamberlain and Russell were averaging 8-10 blocks for most of their careers.

Now for the topic at hand, I would have to give it to Shaq by a slight edge, but keep in mind that Shaq has ALWAYS had a top three (Kobe), top five (Wade), or top ten (pre-injury Penny Hardaway) running mate playing with him. During D-Rob's peak years, his best running mate was Sean Elliott who was at most a top 20-25 player. From 1990-96, playoff defenses had few other worries than David Robinson. Also, Shaq had better coaching staffs in his best years compared with D-Rob.

[stretch]

First of all, understand this about Wilt. Athletically, he compares favorably to any players in NBA history. His strength was at least equal to Shaq's and his vertical was even better than Dwight Howard's.

Only looked like that because he was rebounding, pushing around, and dunking on a bunch of extremely unathletic white dudes who he dwarfed in height and size. I'd put money on it that Shaq in his prime could have a 100 point game if you stuck him in the 60s NBA.

[Spurs da champs]

Really after reading some bull **** replies it's obvious david robinson is the most underrated great center of all time, This guy could play great defense,was a scoring champion (he beat shaq for the scoring le),and a mvp. Shaq O'Neal is just a big ass wall that can dunk,David was balanced he could score and play deffense,So far from what I've seen from some clips of shaq and games from his prime he was a offensive threat thats all. David a threat on defense and offense.
I'd rather have The Admrial.

[dallaskd]

Shaq Diesel!

well the '02 shaq

[dallaskd]

Robinson losing on a spurs board. wow

[stretch]

I think Robinson was a more well rounded player, and thus I voted for him, as the poll asked who is better "overall". But Shaq was more dominant.