Shaquille O’Neal has been very complimentary of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the past. While Shaq usually shunned any player who tried to take his ‘Superman’ nickname or his mantle as the most dominant player in the league, he has actually bestowed both titles to Giannis on different occasions.
But who do fans think was more dominant? This was a question posed to NBA fans on Reddit, asking about O’Neal during his peak and Giannis last season. The question pointed out Giannis had better numbers last season and was more efficient and a better free-throw shooter than Shaq
Unsurprisingly, most fans picked Shaq Diesel over Giannis, just because Shaquille O’Neal is universally considered the most dominant player in NBA history. The Greek Freak’s numbers may be better, but most fans refuse to look at stats without the context of the period of play into consideration.
O’Neal was such a dominant presence in the NBA that teams would build their offseason recruitment strategies around how to contain Shaq. While O’Neal had weaknesses in his game, he was just such an all-around force on the court that those weaknesses would be more than made-up for by his game.
Shaquille O’Neal Would Dominate The Modern NBA
Giannis is very much a throwback in the modern NBA. There is no doubt that in terms of dominance and style of play, he is the player that resembles Shaq the most. But even then, he has had to work on his s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s such as free-throws and shooting, because those are now essential s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s in the NBA.
There is an argument to be made that Shaq would dominate the modern NBA, one that Jamal Crawford agrees with.
The modern NBA doesn’t really have dominant, physically imposing centers like the ones from Shaq’s era. While Shaq’s weakness in shooting would make it tough for him in the modern era, his sheer dominance would make him a must-have for any team today.
During his best years with the Lakers, Shaq averaged 27.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. Considering how much more physical the NBA was compared to now, it would not be a challenge for Shaq to play in the current NBA.
