Shaquille O’Neal is an avid social media enthusiast, often sharing some interesting takes that he comes across. Recently, Shaq took to Instagram, resharing a clip from a 1997 interview featuring Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. Answering Ahmad Rashad’s question, the two legends revealed the strategies they would use to defend the then-Los Angeles Lakers superstar.
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Bill Russell kickstarted the discussions by pointing out the weight difference between Shaquille O’Neal and him. Using a hypothetical 60-pound figure as an example, the Boston Celtics legend explained how he would exploit this weight difference to his advantage. By ensuring that O’Neal would have to constantly run the lengths of the court, Russell would try his best to get the 7ft 1” big man tired as early as possible.
“I would make him play hard zone, plus I would make him have to run up and down the court all day. If I weigh 240 and he weighs 300, he has to carry that weight up and down every time, the fatigue factor becomes part of it,” Bill Russell explained.
Wilt Chamberlain simply stated how he’d identify the Big Aristotle’s weakness and “make him do (it) the most).”
“First of all, you find the things that he does the worst and make him do the most,” Wilt Chamberlain said.
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Shaq couldn’t help but share this same clip on his Instagram Story.
Shaq posts Wilt’s take on him defending Shaq pic.twitter.com/KPwFIeWzne
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) January 20, 2024
The 4x NBA Champion was pretty heavy for the majority of his career. However, during his earlier days in the NBA, “Superman” was quite agile, he faced no problems running back and forth. Using the same point that Bill put across, Shaq once stated how he would dominate a matchup between the two using his weight.
“O’Neal declared before Game 3 that he considered Hall of Famer Bill Russell, the greatest defensive player in NBA history, “too light” to have had much luck guarding him,” Phil Taylor of SI Vault wrote.
Wilt and Bill were two of the greatest defensive players. However, across his illustrious 19-year career, O’Neal faced every kind of defense. Getting him tired or making him go the charity stripe on every other occasion (his weakness) were a couple of strategies that O’Neal comfortably dealt with.
Shaquille O’Neal spoke highly of Wilt Chamberlain concerning the “Most Dominant Ever” statement
Wilt Chamberlain commented on the comparisons with Shaquille O’Neal quite a few times. Being proud of his gifted physical abilities, Wilt the Stilt explained how he would emerge victorious in an imaginary duel between the two.
During an interview with Conan O’Brien, despite praising Shaq for his physical stature and strength, the Big Dipper was pretty candid, claiming that the former would be outplayed.
“He uses his physicality, and he’s a big strong young man, and that works well in today’s game. If he was facing me and other guys on my of time, not so good. I’m a guy bench pressing around 600 lbs,” Chamberlain said.
Shaq takes pride in being a dominant player. While he respectfully keeps himself out of the GOAT debate, he considers himself a frontrunner for the “Most Dominant Ever” argument. However, never has the TNT analyst ranked himself over Chamberlain in the same conversations. Shaq’s reason for the same is attributed to the fact that he’s scored fewer points across his career than Wilt.
