Back in 1997, Bill Russell revealed his strategy to prevent Shaquille O’Neal from going on a scoring outburst.
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Shaquille O’Neal is unarguably the most dominant figure in all of NBA basketball. The 7-foot-1 325-pound monster was too gruesome for any defender to guard. In his nearly 20-year-long career, Shaq, night in and night out, commanded over the paint on both sides of the court.
Because of the huge size advantage he had over his fellow competitors, The Diesel was able to rack up one of the most decorated resumes in the history of the league. Shaq had 15 All-Star appearances, 14 All-NBA selections, 2 Scoring titles, 4 NBA Championships, 3 Finals MVPs, 1 MVP, 28,596 points, numerous posterizers and several shattered backboards under his belt in his illustrious 19 seasons career.
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It is pretty understandable why any defender would fear going up against Shaq. Even the most elite defenders would struggle to prevent “The Big Aristotle” from going on a scoring outburst. However, Bill Russell did give out advice as to how he would attempt guarding “The Diesel”.
“I would make Shaquille O’Neal play hard zone”: Bill Russell
When talking about the game’s greatest big men, Bill Russell is also one name that is brought up several times. Bill was an accomplished player with a high basketball IQ.
Being one of the most intelligent defensive minds, the former Celtics legend once disclosed the strategy he would implement while going up against Shaq. Back in 1997, in a must-see interview with Ahmad Rashad alongside Wilt Chamberlain, the 11-time NBA champ said:
“I would make him play hard zone, plus I would make him have to run up and down the court all day. If I weigh 240 and he weighs 300, he has to carry that weight up and down every time, the fatigue factor becomes part of it.”
To be honest, throughout his distinguished career, O’Neal has faced each and every kind of defense known to basketball. While we appreciate Russell and his opinions, it is highly unlikely that his strategy would actually end up preventing Shaq from going berserk in the paint.
