Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has never been someone lacking in confidence, and that was on display yet again during an appearance on Tommy Talks. O’Neal was asked what his stat line would be if he faced off against Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic in his prime in the playoffs, and he made it clear he’d win the matchup.
“Playoffs probably be 40 [points], 14 rebounds, 3 blocks,” O’Neal said. “You know he’s a different player. I probably wouldn’t have stopped him either, because they definitely would have ran pick-and-roll. I would have to go off of him, and then they would have kicked it back. He probably would have shot a lot of jumpers.
“However, if he’s going to guard me one-on-one, hopefully he’s not going to be in the game a lot,” O’Neal stated. “Because the first 10 possessions, I am going at him. He’s either going to have to foul me or double me. So, if he fouls me two or three times, he would definitely be on the bench.
“So, he probably average 27, 30 [points], because he’s a great shooter and I would have to be off,” O’Neal continued. “If he was a post player and I would just have to focus just on him, he wouldn’t get that much.
“Because I saw when he was playing in the post against Dwight Howard,” O’Neal added. “He had problems. But because they run a lot of pick-and-rolls, you have to help on the guard, they throw it back, and he shoots it. But him guarding me? I am averaging 40. Easily.”
This would sound delusional coming out of the mouths of most people, but not O’Neal. In his prime, he could have put up 40 points against just about any center in NBA history.
O’Neal was at his absolute peak when he led the Los Angeles Lakers to a three-peat from 2000 to 2002. In those three NBA Finals series, he averaged 35.9 points while shooting 59.5% from the field.
The most impressive display of the lot from O’Neal perhaps came in the 2001 NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers. He was matched up with Dikembe Mutombo, who won DPOY in 2001, in the series and dominated.
O’Neal averaged 33.0 points on 57.3% shooting from the field against the 76ers. If he could do that to one of the finest defenders the NBA has seen, you better believe he can put up close to 40 points a game against Jokic.
O’Neal had stated previously as well that he would drop 40 points against Jokic. The 53-year-old at least acknowledged on this instance that he would also struggle to guard the Serbian.
Jokic doesn’t quite have that same scorer mentality that O’Neal had, but he can rack up points if his team needs him to do so. He averages 27.4 points per game in the playoffs for his career, and you’d expect him to put up great numbers in this matchup.
While O’Neal believes he’d emerge victorious, he does have a lot more respect for Jokic than he does for other big men. He once put the Nuggets superstar above himself on his all-time list for centers.
Jokic hasn’t quite done enough to surpass O’Neal, though. He only has one championship to his name and needs to win a couple more.
