A while back, Shaquille O’Neal was asked how he would do in today’s NBA with so much focus on shooting three-pointers in the league nowadays. Many fans believe that the big man would fail to thrive in a league dominated by shooters. In response to all these claims, Shaq’s answer was simple. He is playing in today’s game, as a player who can go coast-to-coast, take it off the glass, and get high-percentage shots.
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Those were the exact words Shaq used when he claimed that Giannis Antetokounmpo is the modern version of him. In that same vein of comparisons, the big fella took to Instagram to compare the stats of his and Giannis’ first MVP seasons respectively, which stand 20 years apart.
There can be no denying that Shaquille O’Neal and Giannis Antetokounmpo are two of the most dominant players of all time. But when put side-by-side, just how do they compare to each other?
Taking the Greek Freak’s 2019-2020 MVP season into account, the Big Aristotle displayed just how incredible he was in the 1999-2000 season. While Giannis did have more assists than Shaq, the four-time NBA Champion led the Greek Freak in almost every other category.
The Diesel had a 29.7 points per game average compared to Antetokounmpo’s 29.5. Even though they were tied in the number of rebounds with 13.6, Shaq had more blocks and a higher field goal percentage than Giannis.
Shaq compares his MVP season to Giannis’s pic.twitter.com/wNgDLF9oFQ
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) August 22, 2023
In terms of team performances, Shaq edged out the Greek national as well. Not only did the Lakers have a better win-loss ratio than the Milwaukee Bucks, they also took home the NBA Championship that year. On the contrary, the Bucks’ campaign fizzled out in the second round.
At the end of the day, both Shaq and Giannis are incredible players. But in terms of who had a better MVP season, you cannot argue that the Lakers legend has the edge. However, that being said, the Greek superstar does have one more MVP than the Diesel in his career.
