During a discussion on his ‘Gil’s Arena’ show, Gilbert Arenas spoke about how modern NBA stars like Ja Morant are able to pull off the dunks they do because of poor defense. He claimed that this wouldn’t work against a player like Shaquille O’Neal, who used his massive frame and strength to foul people during the prime of his career.
“Most of the high-level players in the NBA are guards. You can keep them at bay if you start laying wood on people… Ja [Morant] would have never tried that on someone like Shaquille [O’Neal].”
“You have to jump over all of this (gestures) instead of like, straight up. He’s gonna – Boom! Shaq’s very first foul was so hard that you’re like ‘Ooh, I don’t want to feel that’. Now, whoever is guarding me, you have a better chance of stopping me because I want to shoot jumpers now until he’s out of the game.”
Arenas did a great job in illustrating and explaining to a younger generation who might not have seen him in his prime why Shaquille O’Neal was so difficult to play against. Not only was he a juggernaut on offense unlike anything we have seen before or since, but he was also a physical presence in the paint who could stop anyone.
Shaq had a massive frame, being one of the biggest players in NBA history. So for him to use the full force of his frame to try and stop you from getting to the room meant that any player trying to take him on at the rim would be in for at the very least, a high amount of pain.
Shaq used his fouls as a deterrent for opposition players coming up against him. Due to greater physicality being allowed during his time, Shaq could get away with making harder fouls, which would cause so much pain that opposition players would think twice before going up against him.
Shaquille O’Neal’s Dominance Was Unreal
Many consider Shaquille O’Neal to be the most dominant player in the history of the NBA. O’Neal was a sensation during the peak of his powers, having his way with any and every NBA team on a nightly basis, as he wreaked havoc on opposition defenses with his frightening combination of size, power, and speed.
O’Neal found great success in the NBA across multiple teams. He led the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals in just his third season in the league. He and Kobe Bryant helped the Lakers go on a historic three-peat run from 2000 to 2002, the last of its kind, and he won another ring in 2006 with Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat.
Shaq’s latter years in the league were marred with injuries. But he does believe that he should have won almost double the amount of championships he did during his career, claiming he could have won 8 or 9 rings had injuries and other circumstances not played a part.
Regardless of the missed championship opportunities in Shaq’s career, there is no denying that he is one of the all-time greats of the sport, and we may never see another player like Shaquille O’Neal in the sport ever again.
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