Basketball has evolved substantially in the past few decades, to the point that it has now become almost positionless. Mostly gone are the days when centers were the anchors of the team, both offensively and defensively. Shaquille O’Neal recently took a shot at the league’s modern centers, posting a video on his Instagram that compares the old school and the new school of players.
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The video shared by Shaq was originally posted by the Instagram channel called NBAGoat. The video illustrates the drastic difference between the likes of Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren and the sheer destruction of Shaquille O’Neal back in the day.
The first part of the video shows how new age centers rely more on shooting and fancy dribbling to impact the game. However, old school centers were all about the paintwork and primal bully-ball. ‘Old heads’ and fans of the past often highlight how today’s centers don’t finish in the post like players in the past did.
Shaq seems to be hinting at the same by underlining how he wrecked the rim dunking over defenders. The concluding part of the video provides a stark contrast to Jokic and Wemabnyama shooting the basketball by showing the highlights of Shaq absolutely destroying the rim dunking over defenders.
Of all the positions in the game, no one position has seen a more drastic shift than that of the big man. With the rise of small ball in the NBA, the floor has started getting spaced more and the centers have had to adapt. As Paul Pierce noted during a KG Certified dialogue, basketball has been watered down into three basic positions, centers, forwards and guards, with overlapping boundaries.
The centers have seen a dip in relevance with the rise of great guards like Steph Curry and LeBron James. Therefore, they have had to adopt the guard’s traits, like shooting and running plays, to regain prominence in the game. Nikola Jokic has done the same this past year to outline the new role of the dominant center.
Shaquille O’Neal recognizes a few greats of the game
Shaq recently took to his Instagram to share a clip of Domantas Sabonis posterizing Rudy Gobert. Now, this share from Shaq not only seems like a nod to Sabonis but also a dig at Gobert. Gobert, who has been on the receiving end of Shaq’s ridicule for many years, seems to be another center under fire.
However, Shaq isn’t always criticizing and making fun of players. He does so mostly, but not always.
The big man may not like the new generation of centers much, but he is sure to give the best their due. In a recent post shared by the Diesel, he acknowledged that Jokic is the best center of this era. The infographic shared by Shaq, saw Jokic as the best center from the years 2019-2023.
With the league finding new talents like Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, it’s safe to say that the future of the NBA is looking scary. The new generation of hoopers are not only taller and stronger but more skilled and athletic as well. With more basketball theory being put into practice year after year, it would be interesting to see which basketballing mould will be broken next
