Shaq had 3 Finals MVPs. off, you dumb pole smoking .
Ok, but it's not true that "no one cared" or that "he was dull." Well, if by "nobody" you mean "idiots who don't know about basketball," then yes! You're totally right.
It's also a misleading analogy, because we saw Duncan and Shaq face off in 2003, and it wasn't entirely favorable for Shaq.
Shaq had 3 Finals MVPs. off, you dumb pole smoking .
Anyone can win a Finals MVS, you dummy. Billups has one. Kiwi has one. Shaq was basically a loser until Kobe forced him to be a man. Duncan would have 9 -10 rings if Shaq didn't have Kobe during that era. Spurs never feared Shaq it was Kobe they couldn't stop.
Duncan guarded shaq. All kobe had to do was not completely his pants against Steve Smith, you got. As soon as we got Jack, aka a with some balls, Kobe shat his diaper against us.
You dumb ... Kobe didn't even need Shaq to beat Duncan. He took a scrub in Pau and damn there swept you clowns.
Then he got swept by soft ass Dirk. What awarrior
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shaq had it fkn easy for his career man
during his prime, most of the great centers of the 90s were a s of their former selves...he had a good 6-8yrs he couldve dominated, win more rings during his tenure with the lakers/heat...he went up against bull centers during his prime man or played against undersize centers and pfs
, I'd take peak Shaq over DK, never mind Hakeem. Shaq in his prime is the one guy who was literally unguardable by normal means. It's the reason why the hacking strategy exists. Only problem is that his peak was shorter than most superstars.
Shaq's problem wasn't a lack of talent. It was a lack of effort. He let himself get fat and out of shape every offseason, didn't train hard, didn't rehab well from his various injuries. If basketball were the #1 thing he cared about, he would have ringed in 2004 and probably a few other years and also extended his career by several years. The evidence is the 2008-09 era when he was in Phoenix and actually got serious about his diet and training and had a good training staff, and miraculously he was an All-Star again. He could have done that for his whole career and dominated the entire NBA for 15 years, but he just didn't want to. He decided he would rather be a big fat clown and goof around than be one of the top 3-4 players in NBA history.
take. You managed to be wrong on both Shaq and Kobe pretty amazing, tbh
Shaq is horribly overrated. There were literally zero good centers in that era apart from him. Not even in top10 all time
Now that's crazY talk.
How is Shaq overrated?
The dude's peak is probably the greatest peak of all time.
Saying Shaq isn't skilled is just horrible. Shaq was a fantastic passer off double teams in the low block, he had great foot work, had a nifty little jump hook, a great spin move, nice up and unders. Yes, he couldn't shoot outside of 10 feet, and he doesn't have great lateral quickness, he mails it in on defense during the regular season, and he was horrible in pick and roll defenses, but his offense was unstoppable.
Size alone didn't do squat for Benoit Benjamin and Stanley Roberts, athleticism didn't do anything for Stromile Swift. Shaq had talent.
He was always just the biggest kid on the block. The league could market him so he got away with murder.
Terribly overrated
1995-96 23 ORL NBA C 12 12 38.3 10.9 18.0 .606 0.0 0.0 10.9 18.0 .606 4.0 10.2 .393 4.1 5.9 10.0 4.6 0.8 1.3 3.7 3.3 25.8 1996-97 24 LAL NBA C 9 9 36.2 9.9 19.2 .514 0.0 0.0 9.9 19.2 .514 7.1 11.7 .610 4.2 6.3 10.6 3.2 0.6 1.9 2.4 4.1 26.9 1997-98 25 LAL NBA C 13 13 38.5 12.2 19.8 .612 0.0 0.0 12.2 19.8 .612 6.2 12.2 .503 3.7 6.5 10.2 2.9 0.5 2.6 3.3 3.2 30.5 1998-99 26 LAL NBA C 8 8 39.4 9.9 19.4 .510 0.0 0.0 9.9 19.4 .510 6.9 14.8 .466 5.5 6.1 11.6 2.3 0.9 2.9 2.3 3.6 26.6 1999-00 ❍ 27 LAL NBA C 23 23 43.5 12.4 22.0 .566 0.0 0.0 12.4 22.0 .566 5.9 12.9 .456 5.2 10.3 15.4 3.1 0.6 2.4 2.4 2.9 30.7 2000-01 ❍ 28 LAL NBA C 16 16 42.3 11.9 21.5 .555 0.0 0.0 11.9 21.5 .555 6.6 12.5 .525 5.7 9.8 15.4 3.2 0.4 2.4 3.6 3.4 30.4 2001-02 ❍ 29 LAL NBA C 19 19 40.8 10.7 20.2 .529 0.0 0.0 10.7 20.2 .529 7.1 10.9 .649 3.5 9.1 12.6 2.8 0.5 2.5 3.3 3.3 28.5 2002-03 30 LAL NBA C 12 12 40.1 10.1 18.8 .535 0.0 0.0 10.1 18.8 .535 6.8 11.0 .621 5.3 9.6 14.8 3.7 0.6 2.8 2.9 2.8 27.0
It's arguable. MJ gets the nod still butShaq is definitely up there. Here is the counter argument. If your life depended on a game's outcome would you guys truly trust Shaq?
1. Ft's is one issue. Horry and Fisher (and occasionally Kobe) had to bail out those 3 peat Lakers with clutch baskets. Meaning a lot of those games were close. His FT shooting is a factor to consider.
2. I can recall at least 3 big playoff games that Shaq fouled out or were in serious foul trouble in during his peak. and that is just by memory I am sure there were more. The game in Indy is the most obvious ones but I also remember games in Sacto with the same issue.
3. Shaq was an intimidator and beastly playoff rebounder. When i check old boxscores or youtube clips I forget how much better Shaq was on defense when he gave a . But again, that's a problem ... Shaq's motor can run cold. Plus even at his best he was no elite big man defender.
Yes, peak Shaq is greater than Hakeem or duncan but I can count on both guys to play both ends. Plus, I can hardly recall either guy fouling out or being in serious foul trouble in any big playoff or finals games. Neither were horrid FT shooters (duncan has really improved) ... If i had only one game and needed a big Im taking one of those guys. Over a series I probably consider shaq because I think he wears down opposing bigs ... and his peak was the best ... of those 3.
Note: By the time I saw Kareem he was still great but I missed his peak ...
Just some balanced thoughts.
His athleticism and marketability are the only things that separate him from being Stanley Roberts, but Roberts had a better jumper.
That was only due to Manu being hurt and the mysterious plane delay in New Orleans.
This place ...
Im old enough to remember watching them both at LSU. Yes Roberts had the better jumper and post-game but he was even more lazy than Shaq and had half the athleticism. Young shaq had the best size/strength/speed ratio of any NBA player I have ever seen only Lebron is close tbh ...
Another take dripping in both and Krispy Kreme glaze.
Shaq was a beast, but...
1) he was allowed to just lower his shoulder and dislodge / charge into players holding their place and rarely g ot called for a foul
2) he would camp in the lane for way more than three seconds consistently and rarely got called for it.
Combine those two with his skill and he was unguardable.
Wrong word? Shaq wasn't that skilled big man sounds better.
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