Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal’s real reason why he’s jealous of modern NBA big men

Shaquille O’Neal, undoubtedly, is one of the greatest centers to ever play the game of basketball. Listed at 7’1 and 325 lbs., O’Neal was too overwhelming for the majority of the opposition to deal with. He took advantage of an era that put a premium on big man play on the interior, and he ended up winning four championships for his career, with three teams, the Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, and Miami Heat, retiring his jersey to immortalize his greatness.

Alas, there is still something that O’Neal wishes he would have done when he played — and that’s to launch threes on a regular basis. Speaking on The Draymond Green Show, the Lakers great even admitted that he’s jealous of all the big men nowadays who have the green light to launch from range.

“I’m jealous of them. I wish I could step out and shoot the three, brother. You know why I call myself black Steph Curry? Because if I go to the gym and miss 190 f**king threes and make one, I’m the black Steph Curry. That s**t f**king feel good, to step out and shoot that three, bro,” O’Neal said. “I’m jealous of them because I wish I was allowed to do that.”

Indeed, Shaquille O’Neal played in an era of basketball where the center’s primary job was to take up some space down low and go to work on the post. While that led to effective basketball, seeing as the Lakers won three championships in a row by utilizing O’Neal’s greatest strength, players, of course, would want to showcase a more well-rounded game — bringing the ball down the floor, shooting some threes — which was simply prohibited at the time.

“Back then, I would, every now and then, take [the ball] and go coast to coast. The coach would look at me crazy,” O’Neal added. “They’re allowed to do it.”

Shaq and the Lakers did pretty well without three-ball

Shaquille O’Neal played 19 seasons in the NBA, and he took a grand total of 22 triples for his entire career, which amounts to an average of 1.2 attempts per season. He clearly had no green light to shoot beyond five feet, and for good reason, as his struggles at the foul line lends credence to the idea that he would not have been of much help when it comes to spacing the floor.

O’Neal was a lifetime 52.7 percent shooter from the foul line, and that, to say the least, would not have translated to an acceptable percentage from beyond the arc. Nonetheless, O’Neal did still plenty of damage. He blended strength, athleticism, and footwork in the post, and once he had inside position, there was no way he was missing. He put plenty of opposing centers on posters and he even broke backboards during his time.

In fact, Shaquille O’Neal was so unguardable during his time that opposing teams made sure to employ beefy seven-footers on their rosters just so they could have someone to throw at O’Neal. It was moot, however, as O’Neal still had his way, leading the Lakers to three straight rings to open the 21st century.

Had O’Neal played in this era, it’s not quite clear if he would be allowed to shoot threes even if centers are now asked to do more these days. Why park him on the perimeter if his greatest strength was applying rim pressure on the opposition? Alas, the sight of Shaq shooting threes on the regular would have been a spectacle that many would have paid good money to see.

Shaquille O’Neal shows some love

Shaquille O’Neal birthed the iconic meme of him not being familiar with Christian Wood’s game. He’s been very critical of Dwight Howard over the past 15 years. Suffice to say, Shaq is not the biggest fan of some of today’s big men. In fact, he said, point-blank, to Nikola Jokic’s face that he thought he did not deserve to win the 2024 NBA MVP award.

Nonetheless, O’Neal, on Draymond Green’s podcast, sung the praises of Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Victor Wembanyama — believing them to be three of the most impactful at the position in today’s NBA.

“Embiid is a mixture of me in the post and Hakeem Olajuwon outside the post. And Joker, I was thinking a little Brad Daugherty, a little [Arvydas] Sabonis in ’84. His game is just nice. … Wembanyama is different. He’s thin, but he does some stuff,” O’Neal said. “As the president of the big men alliance, I really like those three guys. Any other big guys, I’m not feeling.”

“I don’t hate all big men. I just don’t like the big men who don’t play like big men.”

Receiving praise from Shaquille O’Neal is nothing to scoff at, as the Lakers legend is one of the greatest to ever do it — despite not having the three-ball in his locker.