Halley’s comet appears once every 76 years, truly a once in a generation event; something that also holds true for the rise of players of Shaquille O’Neal’s stature and influence. “You saw Halley’s comet, that’s what Shaq was”, said Shannon Sharpe on the latest of episode of ‘Nightcap’. While Shaq and Sharpe have butted heads in the past, that hasn’t stopped the NFL legend from giving praise to the “unbelievable” big man, albeit with a caveat.
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Sharpe expressed his disappointment in the ‘The Big Diesel’s’ inability to stay in shape.
All of this stemmed from O’Neal’s confession about the GOAT debate on ‘The Big Podcast’ last week. “It eats me alive”, he had said while talking about the fact that most people do not include him in GOAT conversations.
Referring to that statement of regret from O’Neal, Sharpe provided his reasons for why fans omit Shaq from the GOAT debate.
While Shaq indeed is the ‘Most dominant player’ of all time, it was the very fact that he knew this that probably made him not push so hard during his playing days. Sharpe feels that had O’Neal pushed himself a little more, worked on his fitness, his diet, he could have been bossing those GOAT conversations. He said,
“Shaq was unbelievable and that’s the problem. I just wish Shaq would have taken it seriously. Say, ‘You know what, I’m going to get into shape. I’m going to stay in shape for a decade. You’re never going to see a guy like Shaq again. You’re never going to see a guy that big and athletic… You saw Halley’s Comet, that’s what Shaq was.”
Shaq stood at 7-foot-1 and 325 lbs. His quickness, along with his 32-inch vertical made him impossible to keep in front of for opposing players at his position.
The criticism which Sharpe gives Shaq due to his inability to stay in shape is spot on. And The Hall-of-Fame tight end isn’t the first person to call out the big man for his fitness. One of the main differences which negatively impacted the relationship between Shaq and Kobe Bryant was the guard’s feelings toward O’Neal’s work ethic.
This, compounded onto an umpteen number of problems the two had, led to their Lakers dynasty to collapse.
Sharpe also went on to compare the 15-time All-Star to Sixers big man Joel Embiid. “Embiid couldn’t touch him(Shaq) in athleticism” said Sharpe as he raved about O’Neal’s ability to get up and down the court the way he did. However, they both suffer from not being in their best game shape.
Now, one of the main reasons LeBron James is firmly placed within the GOAT debate is due to his longevity and especially how he has carried himself in the second half of his career. Despite being 39 years old, his production hasn’t dropped off since his athletic prime. The opposite happened to Shaq, injuries started to pile up and he ruined his opportunity of being in the GOAT debate.
Following the 2004-05 season, Shaq only played more than 65 games once in a season.
In addition, O’Neal didn’t work on aspects of his game which needed to improve. Throughout his career, Shaq was an abysmal free-throw shooter. He averaged a career free-throw percentage of 52.7%. He never shot 65% at the charity stripe in a single season. Considering O’Neal attempted 9.3 free throws per game, he failed to capitalize on a key component of his game.
When it comes to not being in the GOAT debate, maybe Shaq truly has only himself to blame.
