Shaquille O’Neal and Magic Johnson were two of the greatest players in the history of the NBA. The two stars changed the game and did so mostly while representing the Los Angeles Lakers.
The two are considered legends in the NBA and were able to change the game for the better. Both players were highly touted when they entered the NBA. But which legend would be the perfect building block to start a team in the NBA?
u/Party-Cranberry-9325 asked this question on Reddit, specifically which player between Shaquille O’Neal and Magic Johnson would be a good player to build a team around in the modern NBA.
Most fans noted that Shaq would be the clear pick, because of the physical gifts that he possessed. Shaq, despite the evolution of the NBA, would still be able to easily dominate the rest of the league.
While some note that Magic’s ability as a two-way player would make him an attractive option, the majority of fans believe that Shaq’s incredible physical presence would make him the obvious answer:
Shaq. There’s no one in the NBA who could guard him while we have 6’7-6’9 2 way players everywhere who could guard Magic.
Right, he would dominate offensively for sure. but imagine him trying to chase Steph or klay on switches. He can’t just camp down in the paint like in the 90s.
Him chasing them around would not be ideal he would probably play them loosely and give them too much room but the same can be said if Curry or Klay ended up guarding Shaq on a switch. They would have no chance.
Shaq would change the makeup of the league overnight. All those true 7 footers working at UPS or wherever would get called into service.
When Shaq was in the league, every team needed to have 2 or 3 7 footers, they didn’t even need to be good, just able to absorb fouls.
Yeah, so many teams nowadays get away with trotting out 6’9 players and calling them centers. Shaq would break the meta
I think that the way Shaq is reffed might be the biggest factor in how effective he is. Hard to say given how much the rules and the league has changed over the last 20 years.
Dude was the most dominant player Ive ever seen and its not even close.
All that’s left is to surround Shaq with a bunch of 3 and D wings and he’ll just kick it out when he inevitably gets triple teamed in the paint.
he was generally guarded by forwards and guarded forwards himself. he wasn’t matching up against pgs in his era and he wouldn’t either in this era.
to answer your question: i take shaq.
Shaq. He would cause trouble for teams who trying go small ball
I’m Shaq fanboy so I would only draft MJ and Lebron above him.
If I am getting Orlando Shaq that player is unstoppable
No one in the NBA right now could stop a prime Shaq. He’ll literally bully anyone inside be it Giannis, Embiid, or Jokic. Shaq is his own worst enemy. Staying in shape.
Shaquille O’Neal is considered the most dominant player in NBA history. So him being picked over Magic Johnson shouldn’t be surprising. Magic would still be an incredible player in the modern NBA.
But players of his size and build are more common in the NBA now than there were before. So it wouldn’t be as difficult to guard Johnson as it would Shaq. Shaq’s physical presence is unlike any other player the NBA has ever seen. So stopping him was never the task. It was always to slow him down.
