Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain are two of the most dominant players in the NBA’s history. When they were in their prime, no one could stop them, and even though they played in different eras, their level of individual dominance was similar. So when asked about which one of them would win in a 1-on-1 if both were at their best, Shaq had an interesting answer.
“I hate when you ask the question, and you can’t ask sub-questions,” O’Neal said on the Fluent And Chill Show. “For example, what era are we playing in? And then, like, I’m looking at Wilt’s highlights, and I’m not impressed. I was a lot more hip-hop, had a lot more style. I was the first dude to bring it up off a rebound through a foul… Young Wilt, Young Shaq, I’m going with Young Shaq.”
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Shaquille O’Neal won 3 consecutive championships and 3 consecutive Finals MVPs during his prime. The league changed, and teams were built to stop Shaquille O’Neal. He also won an MVP during that time. There is no denying that in his prime, Shaq was truly an unstoppable force.
Wilt Chamberlain won just two championships and one Finals MVP, but he had a lot more MVPs than O’Neal. And his stats are incomparable; the man averaged 50 points and 25 rebounds per game in one season in his prime. It makes sense that O’Neal would back himself even against prime Wilt, but it’s hard to tell who would win such a matchup.
Wilt Chamberlain Didn’t Think Shaquille O’Neal Could Go Against Him And The Other Centers From The 60s
Wilt Chamberlain was a proud man, and while he didn’t live to see O’neal’s true prime, he saw the first few years of Shaq’s career. Chamberlain thought the comparisons to him were ridiculous, as he made clear through a hilarious Hollywood comparison.
“Yeah, we’re both terrible foul shooters,” Chamberlain once said. “But Shaquille and I is like comparing me with Clark Gable. In this case, I am Clark Gable and he is me.”
Wilt Chamberlain also claimed that Shaquille O’Neal’s physicality wouldn’t have worked against him or the other older centers. He stated that Shaq would not have been able to be so good in that era. There is no way to legitimately answer this question, but both men would undoubtedly back themselves to win if this impossible scenario ever actually came about.
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