Shaq Believes He Would Be Giannis Antetokounmpo If He Played In Today's NBA

Greenie1/03/2020 5:45 PM

(ESPN) - The prospect of being doubled in today's NBA leaves O'Neal salivating at the opportunity. Give him a chance, Shaq says, and he'd take total command of the key.

Asked what he would do if O'Neal was on his roster, Morey answers, "I would give him the ball 1,000 times, is my guess. Is he coming? Can I draft him somewhere?"

While Shaquille O'Neal isn't walking through that door, perhaps we're focused on the wrong big man.

"I would actually love to play in this NBA," O'Neal says. "I would bring a little bit more physicality. I would bring my length, I would bring my athletic-ness. So, before you say, 'Shaq can't play in this era today,' I'm already playing.

"My name is Giannis Antetokounmpo."

Earlier today the GOAT Jackie Mac and Kirk Goldsberry dropped a really interesting feature on the big man in today's NBA. if you have time I suggest you give it a read if you're into that sort of thing which I imagine you are since you clicked on this blog in the first place. While there were a ton of interesting takeaways, I loved this part from Shaq the most. It sounds crazy when you first hear it, considering Shaq is a 300 pound freak, but younger stoolies may not remember Shaq could fucking move during his prime. I dunno if it would have looked exactly like this

but there is no doubt prime Shaq would be a force in today's NBA. His level of dominance is one that translates to every era, especially prime Shaq. Because I'm weird, I actually went back and looked at just how close these two are. There are so many dominant Shaq seasons to choose from, I went with the 1999-2000 season as Shaq's best when he was 27 years old. He averaged 29.7/13.6/3.8/3.0 on 57% shooting. Here is how that compares to Giannis' season this year which happens to be his 7th season compared to Shaq's 8th

Actually not that crazy of a statement! They may have different styles, but the production is eerily similar. Obviously Giannis takes threes which is a product of today's era, but who is to say Shaq wouldn't also adapt? Everything else about Shaq's game during that 1999-2000 season we see Giannis do now. Dunking on everyone, finishing in transition, rebounding like crazy, it's really not that far fetched of a statement.