In his prime, Shaquille O’Neal was posting numbers that only Wilt Chamberlain could rival. The dominant center was practically unstoppable in the paint on either end of the court, and the only counter his hapless defenders could muster was intentionally fouling him and sending him to the free-throw line to avoid getting viciously dunked on.
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While he was a nightmare to defend against in any game, O’Neal brought his absolute best in the playoffs. He put up video game numbers in each series that the Los Angeles Lakers won en route to winning three straight NBA titles. However, his best run came in the 2001 playoffs, where he averaged a staggering 30.4 points, 15.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists, leading his team to a 15-1 record across four series.
On the latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, retired NBA star JJ Reddick gave O’Neal his flowers for his playoff performances during the Lakers’ three-peat run and was left in awe of his averages in the Finals. The four-time NBA champion wasn’t satisfied with the compliments. He boasted, “Those numbers that you are throwing around are with four motherf**kers on me.”
O’Neal added he hated the word ‘dominant’ being used to describe players who’ve never gotten triple- and quadruple-teamed and still put up the numbers he did. The Hall of Famer takes exception to the word being used loosely, as it’s reserved for truly unstoppable players, like him and Wilt Chamberlain. It’s an adjective O’Neal gatekeeps and he won’t tolerate it being used to describe players who faced a fraction of what he did on the court.
Gilbert Arenas backs Shaquille O’Neal, diminishes claims that Nikola Jokic is dominant
Gilbert Arenas saw Shaquille O’Neal up close near the end of his prime and in his estimation, reigning NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic isn’t close to being as dominant as the Lakers icon was, regardless of the historic numbers that the Denver Nuggets superstar has been posting. Discussing the topic on the Gil’s Arena podcast, the retired NBA star explained that teams had to base their entire defensive gameplan around O’Neal and still had to concede that he could potentially score 40 to 50 points. He added,
“[Nikola Jokic] started getting like defensive respect, that Shaq was getting, like right now we are giving him that for the passing part of it. But when he has the ball is anyone scared that he is going to give 40 or 50 every night? Not yet. You are more scared of [Joel] Embiid and Giannis [Antetokounmpo].”
Arenas’ argument is built solely on the difference in O’Neal and Jokic’s scoring prowess. While the Lakers icon managed to get his points regardless of how clogged the paint was, the Nuggets superstar is content with creating shots for his teammates if he feels his scoring avenues are blocked. Arenas acknowledged that Jokic is a more complete package, but isn’t as dominant a scorer as O’Neal, making the latter more deserving of the tag.
