NBA Reddit asks a vital question about Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal, long after the conclusion of his career in the NBA
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Shaquille O’Neal has long been thought of as one of, if not the most dominant player of all time. And frankly, it’s completely justified.
Let’s be honest. Back in his era, what are you really doing about a guy who is 7’1”, outmuscles you, and yet has more agility and dexterity than anyone at his size? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Still, as the late great Kobe Bryant has said on many occasions, the man got a bit lazy during his holidays between seasons, perhaps maybe even a bit complacent.
Simply put, after a while with the Lakers, the man seemingly lost a lot of his hunger, causing him to come into each season overweight, and unfit to play. And STILL, the man dominated.
So, that begs the question. Is he the most genetically talented player of all time?
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Is Shaquille O’Neal the most genetically gifted player of all time?
Before we start, we’d like to say, that this question was brought up on Reddit’s r/NBA, by ‘Neilwire’.
The Reddit user clearly believes that Shaq is indeed the most genetically gifted player of all time. And to put forth his argument, here is what he said on the matter.
“Shaq is 7’1 yet he is so athletic, strong and agile for that height. He uses his physical traits he is blessed with to dominate the paint and other players. No doubt he has skills and good footwork but he is really gifted for having such a physical stature at that height.”
We must admit, that is a very good argument. And, we must add that people forget how much bounce this man had before his toe injury.
For those that may not know, Phil Jackson once revealed that the Diesel was once advised to have surgery on his toe, which would have kept him out for 6 months. Instead, he chose to go through a minor operation, which didn’t really help much and effectively killed a massive amount of his vertical explosion.
Even with that being said though, he isn’t quite the most genetically gifted of all time. That would be LeBron James.
You’re talking about a 6’9” player, built like a tank, and has the agility, and dexterity of a nuclearly athletic guard. The man can also jump out of the damn gym, something that has created highlight plays on both ends of the floor.
Simply put, Shaq is definitely up there, but the crown here belongs to no one but the King.
