Shaquille O’Neal’s former teammate Alonzo Mourning was the latest guest on The Big Podcast with Shaq. During the episode, co-host Adam Lefkoe asked O’Neal and Mourning how many of today’s stars could handle the physicality of their era and they couldn’t come up with too many names.
Shaquille O’Neal: “It’s a couple that got the end of us, like LeBron (James) and (Kevin Durant) and those guys. But new ones? I don’t know. Hard to say. Big guys, maybe (Nikola Jokic).”
Alonzo Mourning: “Maybe Joker. You know what? Giannis (Antetokounmpo).”
O’Neal: “You think Giannis?”
Mourning: “I think just how hard he goes.”
O’Neal: “He goes hard, yeah. But you don’t think he (is) too light?”
Mourning: “… Yeah, he still takes a beating, though. I think Giannis, he’s cut up like I was. So yeah, I can see that. A Giannis. But I’mma tell you what. Terry Cummings, (Charles Oakley), Anthony Mason… You let them boys lay that wood on you, they take you out of the air.”
O’Neal: “They would. All day every day.”
Mourning: “Rick Mahorn, the list goes on.”
Adam Lefkoe: “This is regular season too?”
Mourning: “Oh yeah. We don’t have that no more… The guys in this era have not felt physicality until they felt those guys.”
Lefkoe: “Wow.”
Mourning: “Oh my god, Buck Williams? Are you kidding me? I mean, c’mon man. The physicality of the game back then, it was unreal.”
There is no denying that the NBA was more physical in the 1990s when O’Neal and Mourning were drafted. That said, I think great players would be able to adapt and be great in any era. The “new” stars like Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and Joel Embiid would have been dominant forces back then too.
O’Neal had some doubts about Antetokounmpo, but Mourning did not and I am certainly on the latter’s side here. The Milwaukee Bucks star, who is averaging 32.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game this season, can take a pounding and I think he would fit in very well in the NBA of the 1990s.
Alonzo Mourning Praises Nikola Jokic
Mourning wasn’t completely sold on Jokic being able to handle the physicality of his era but he did speak glowingly of him in this episode. When commenting on the big men in today’s NBA, the Hall of Famer sang the Nuggets star’s praises.
“I think the Joker has kind of revolutionized our position,” Mourning said. “He really has. Because he has incredible touch. The hooks that we had inside, little turnarounds and the up and unders, he’s got the footwork and everything, same stuff we used to do.
“But the way he passes the ball and occasionally he steps out there and he shoots that three and he hits it,” Mourning added. “There’s timely shots that he hits from out there, it’s not a heavy volume of shots.”
For me, that’s what makes Jokic so good. For the most part, he looks to dominate inside by backing down defenders but will occasionally step outside and hit that three. Jokic is shooting 56.3% from beyond the arc this season and that’s largely down to shot selection. He isn’t just chucking up threes for the sake of it and I wish more big men operated the way he does.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
