mobile app bar

Joel Embiid Says He Could Handle Hakeem Olajuwon But Dealing With Shaquille O’Neal Would Be Troublesome

Shubham Singh
Published

Hakeem Olajuwon, Joel Embiid, Shaquille O'Neal

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is a two-time scoring champion and among the most skilled players in the NBA. He can operate in high and low posts and make deep-range jumpers. His offensive game is reminiscent of Hakeem Olajuwon, but the Hall of Famer is also among the best defensive players ever. A match-up between the two would be thrilling. But Embiid doesn’t believe it’d be competitive. 

During an appearance on the debut episode of The Check Ball Show podcast, co-host, and NBA skills coach Drew Hanlen asked him who would be a tougher match-up between Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal in a one-on-one battle and a five-on-five game. 

Embiid replied that he’d have trouble facing the Lakers icon but the two-time Finals MVP won’t pose a threat. The 76ers superstar said,

Shaq with his size and you know weight [would be more troublesome]… I think I’ll be fine with Hakeem on defense.

Embiid then pointed to O’Neal’s agility during his Orlando Magic days and claimed the center’s strength and speed would make him a nightmare to play against. He also admitted that the Lakers’ version of Shaq was no less intimidating as his massive physique was indomitable and his skillset became even more refined.

Embiid giving the three-time Finals MVP an edge over him on the court is understandable. However, Olajuwon’s post-moves would have kept him guessing too. Apart from that, the Rockets icon was inarguably a better defender than O’Neal. He could close the perimeter while protecting the paint.

This is one of the reasons why Embiid took some time before settling on who would have been a tougher match-up. Both players have strong cases as they are among two of the best players to hit the hardwood. However, the 76ers superstar believes O’Neal’s size, speed, strength, and bruising playing style would be too much for him to handle.

But it’s worth noting that when the two Hall of Famers faced off in the NBA Finals, the Rockets swept the Magic and Olajuwon won Finals MVP. Perhaps Embiid is underestimating the Dream’s a bit. 

Post Edited By:Jay Mahesh Lokegaonkar

About the author

Shubham Singh

Shubham Singh

linkedin-icon

Shubham Singh is an NBA Journalist at SportsRush. He found his passion in Writing when he couldn't fulfil his dream of playing professional basketball. Shubham is obsessed with box scores and also loves to keep track of advanced stats and is, particularly, fond of writing CoreSport analytical pieces. In the league, his all time favorites were 80s Bad Boys, Pistons, while Dennis Rodman and his enthralling rebounding made him love the game more. It also made him realize that the game is much more than fancy scoring and playmaking. Shubham is also a huge fan of cricket and loves to watch all forms of women sports.

Share this article