“Hell No!”: Rajon Rondo Has An Emphatic Reaction To Whether Draymond Green Can Guard Shaquille O’Neal

Draymond Green is famed for being a versatile defender, guarding positions 1 through 5. Hence, in the current era, the Golden State Warriors forward is one of the better defenders, having given a majority of his opponents a hard time. However, a hypothetical encounter against a prime Shaquille O’Neal would witness Green getting humiliated… at least that’s what Rajon Rondo confidently claims.

Rajon Rondo was recently interviewed by one member of the Broadcast Boys. During the nearly 90-second-long clip, Rondo is asked a variety of questions – basketball and non-basketball related. The first question itself was regarding the possibility of Draymond Green being able to stand his ground when going up against a prime Shaquille O’Neal. Rondo didn’t need to give it much thought, dismissing the idea instantly.

Question: “Could Draymond Green guard Shaq in his prime?”

Rondo: “Hell no! He doesn’t weigh enough.”

This hypothetical question has been asked around by NBA enthusiasts and analysts for several years, especially when comparing the 73-9 Warriors to the three-peat Lakers from the early 2000s.

Rondo’s answer wasn’t partial to glorifying his former teammate. He’s quite accurate in highlighting the size advantage that O’Neal has over Dray. Green has been able to contain players significantly taller than him. However, this hypothetical matchup is one of the rare situations in which the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year (230 lbs) is considerably lighter than his opponent (at least 360 lbs during his prime).

During his era, especially in the 1990s, Shaq managed to win numerous encounters against players who can be considered the greatest defenders ever–Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, and Alonzo Mourning, among others.

Ben Wallace is an accurate player comparison to Draymond Green to go up against a prime Shaquille O’Neal. Despite having 3 DPOYs more than Green, Wallace struggled to defend O’Neal as the latter would average 23.2 points and 9.4 rebounds in their matchups. Evidence suggests a prime Shaquille O’Neal would not face difficulties in getting past Draymond Green.

Draymond Green grew up a Shaquille O’Neal fan

The hypothetical Shaquille O’Neal-Draymond Green debate has been ongoing for a while now. A non-GSW fan has always taken the logical decision of backing Shaq in this matchup. However, Green doesn’t agree with the majority’s opinion. According to the Warriors leader, individuals backing Shaq are nothing but his detractors.

Hence, once making an appearance on his The Draymond Green Podcast, the four-time NBA champ revealed his admiration for Shaq since his childhood and went on to claim that he would love to have the opportunity of containing the Big Aristotle to silence the naysayers.

“If I had the opportunity to guard him, like, that’s everything for me. If I had the opportunity to play basketball on Shaq’s team, that’s everything for me. Everybody say, ‘Oh, man, if played back in the league, you wouldn’t be able to guard Shaq, you wouldn’t be able to guard Hakeem (Olajuwon),’ Shut up. I’m guarding Shaq. Bring on the big fella,” Green said, per Sportskeeda.

Shaq and Green have had a conversation about the former possibly being locked up by the defensive specialist in the hypothetical 2001 Lakers- 2015 Warriors clash. As expected, Shaq didn’t look too worried when Dray claimed to play the backup center role and guard him.

Unfortunately, there is no player in the NBA currently with the same build as Shaq for Green to try and back his claims. There doesn’t seem to be any way possible for Draymond Green to prove Shaq and the basketball world about him being a defensive threat to one of the greatest big men of all time.