Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is a hard man to impress. However, reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid has not only managed to get in the four-time NBA champion’s good books but also earned the coveted title of ‘dominant‘ that the former Lakers superstar has only used to describe himself, and Wilt Chamberlain in the past.
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On the Big Podcast with Shaq, he and co-host Adam Lefkoe discussed Embiid’s impressive start to the 2023-24 NBA season. When Lefkoe asked if the 76ers star, who is averaging 35 points, 11.7 rebounds, and six assists, is dominant, the former NBA MVP said:
“Yes. Numbers don’t lie.”
They certainly don’t. Embiid currently leads the league in the Player Impact Estimate category, with a score of 22.8%, as per NBA.com. This metric is a measure of a player’s overall impact per contest condensed to a percentage. This is something that it does by factoring in every category of a player’s box score. Admittedly, Embiid’s lead in the category makes Shaquille O’Neal’s words on the Philadelphia 76ers superstar especially hard to argue.
Further, Joel’s lead over Nikola Jokic in the category is especially big here too. Since the 2021-22 NBA season, the general consensus amongst fans has been that the Nuggets superstar is the far better player. But, perhaps that narrative may finally be due for a change.
However, apparently credit for Shaq doesn’t end there. If ‘The Most Dominant Player of All Time’ is to be believed, this leap by ‘JoJo’ is something that he helped bring on.
In 2020, O’Neal eviscerated Embiid after the 76ers’ loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, even choosing to call the big man “soft” and a “crybaby.” Despite this, while on the Big Podcast, the former Lakers star claimed that he only went all out on the Philadelphia superstar to motivate him to become more dominant. He took credit for Embiid’s ascension as a player over the past three seasons and said:
“My plan is working [laughs]. Diabolical Dr. Shaquille O’Neal does it again.”
Admittedly, Shaq may be going just a bit too far in taking credit for Joel Embiid’s leap. After all, he wasn’t the only one to criticize the player. As diabolical as Dr. O’Neal can be, this seems to have been more of a joint effort by the NBA community as a whole. And even then, the athlete himself deserves the lion’s share of the credit.
O’Neal warned Embiid that if he wants to further his legacy and avoid getting criticized by “idiots,” he should focus on adding a ring to his resume. The three-time NBA Finals MVP explained that in the early years of his career, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dismissed his claim to greatness. This came despite his being dominant and racking up individual accolades, simply because he had failed to win a championship. However, he left no room for debate by the end of his incredible career.
In an interview with GQ Magazine in 2020, O’Neal explained why he refrains from calling anyone “dominant” except himself and Chamberlain. He claimed he would’ve called himself the most dominant player of all time if he finished his career with more points than the former Warriors and Lakers icon. He explained:
“Most dominant, my category, is only one or two people. I’m fine with that. It’s either me or Wilt. I already passed Wilt in championships. When I signed a two-year deal with Boston, I was chasing that fifth ring to catch up with Kobe, but I was also chasing points to catch up with Wilt.”
However, since Chamberlain has more points, O’Neal considers the two-time NBA champion as the most dominant player alongside himself. As for Embiid, he would undoubtedly feel honored that the Lakers icon uses the same adjective to describe him as two of the greatest players in NBA history.
That said, whether or not the verdict will be accepted so quickly by fans remains to be seen. After all, unlike Shaq, or even Jokic, Embiid doesn’t have an NBA championship yet. Before that happens, it is unlikely that the big man truly gets the respect O’Neal believes he deserves.
Joel Embiid’s quest for history
Joel Embiid has started this season where he left off last year. The reigning NBA MVP and tw0-time scoring champion is leading the league with 35 points per game, more than two clear of his closest competitor, Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic.
A third-straight scoring title would put Embiid in rare company. Since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976, only George Gervin, Michael Jordan, and Kevin Durant have led the league in scoring in three consecutive seasons. All three are considered among the greatest players in NBA history.
If Embiid manages to maintain his impeccable scoring average, he will become the first center since Chamberlain to average at least 35 points per game. The former Warriors and Lakers star did it for five straight seasons between 1960-64. He narrowly missed out on doing it six times in a row. Even when he missed out, Chamberlain averaged a whopping 34.7 points in the 1964-65 NBA season.
Embiid is also the current favorite to win the NBA MVP title for the second year running. The last two winners of the award, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic, won it twice in a row. The 76ers superstar will look to emulate them and also add another scoring title to his resume. Embiid is one of the best players of his generation. However, as O’Neal explained, to cement his legacy as an all-time great, he needs to add an NBA title and a Finals MVP to his list of achievements.
