{"id":1535,"date":"2011-06-08T22:07:31","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T03:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pauleide.com\/?p=1535"},"modified":"2020-10-03T15:16:12","modified_gmt":"2020-10-03T20:16:12","slug":"shaquille-oneal-greatest-center-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/shaquille-oneal-greatest-center-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaquille O\u2019Neal: Greatest Center Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Years ago when Shaquille O’Neal\u2019s production started to decline and he couldn\u2019t stay healthy the \u201cShaq is done\u201d and \u201che wasn\u2019t that good\u201d chatter began to commence amongst the haters.<\/h2>\n

And in that four year period, more and more people suddenly couldn\u2019t wait to see him gone. People that once marveled at his size and power now used those same traits as a reason to discredit him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just bigger than everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just dunks all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

But like\u00a0Shaq\u00a0himself famously said, \u201cNobody roots for Goliath.\u201d And that sums up why people aren\u2019t giving\u00a0Shaq\u00a0the credit he is due since he announced his retirement.<\/p>\n

He was\u00a0overly<\/i>\u00a0dominating for too long. And he did it during a time when NBA players were the biggest, fastest and strongest they had ever been.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Shaq\u00a0of the last four years, hanging on for a final ring, isn\u2019t the one we watched in awe for the first 15 years.<\/p>\n

Shaq\u00a0in his prime was a physical freak, a type of player that never existed before or since his arrival. Sure there were seven footers prior to his arrival, but none of them were 325+ pounds or could match his agility or pure physical strength. Which is why he was the best NBA center of all time.<\/p>\n

There are only three other centers who can even be considered against him; Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Kareem\u00a0Abdul-Jabbar.<\/p>\n

Any era that Shaquille O’Neal played in he would have been the most dominant big man and player of that time period. Can you say that about Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain comfortably? No.<\/h2>\n

Imagine if\u00a0Shaq\u00a0played in the 60\u2019s, he would\u2019ve won the title every year. Or 70\u2019s, or 80\u2019s. Can you say that about Russell, Chamberlain or Kareem? \u00a0Could any of those three players enjoy the same level of success they had in today\u2019s NBA? No Way. None of them went up against other seven footers with the regularity that\u00a0Shaq\u00a0is throughout his career.<\/p>\n

And there was never a learning period.\u00a0Shaq\u2019s\u00a0skillset\u00a0transferred directly to the NBA and as a 20 year old he became the NBA\u2019s most physically dominant player the moment he was drafted.<\/h2>\n

If Russell could stop Chamberlain (as much as anyone could), then\u00a0Shaq\u00a0could. And, how would Chamberlain stop or score on\u00a0Shaq\u00a0if he couldn\u2019t dominate Russell? He couldn\u2019t, And neither could Russell.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think a 6-10 inch, 220 pound Russell could do anything to stop\u00a0Shaq. And\u00a0Jabbar? A 7-2, 225 pound\u00a0Jabbar\u00a0in his prime gets pushed around on defense and overpowered on offense.<\/p>\n

Who was the Bill Russell versus\u00a0Shaq\u00a0in the last twenty years? There wasn\u2019t one because there was no one who could physically stop him.\u00a0No one ever had his \u201cNumber\u201d. Was there every any player more dominant at his position for any extended time period? Even after the NBA began allowing zone defense in 2001,\u00a0Shaq\u00a0still couldn\u2019t be stopped.<\/p>\n

So who else is there in the history of the NBA that could contain him on either side of the ball? What was that? I just heard someone in the back say Dwight Howard. He was Dwight Howard\u00a0before<\/i>\u00a0Dwight Howard. And he did it even better.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get sucked into the hate. And that\u2019s it; best big man ever.<\/p>\n