Shaq says he would’ve dropped 45 & 16 on Rudy Gobert in 3 quarters

[LikeABosh]

I'm sure prime Shaq would have dominated against anyone, but I don't remember him scoring more than 45 points often.

I like when he said Roy Hibbert should be averaging 30/15. Something he never did

[E-Balla]

Shaq is annoying for always seeking attention to stay relevant in the chatters.

But I won't say his statement is wrong though. Shaq is the most dominant force I have ever witnessed.

It kind of is wrong. First off, everyone knows Shaq can score so him saying he can drop 40 on someone doesn't really mean anything. Shaq is passing this idea that Rudy Gobert is essentially a scrub because he's not a scorer, which is a ridiculous assertion - but I'll digress.

But to use Dikembe Mutumbo as an example - as he is a comparable player to Rudy Gobert but worse offensively by a lot (could certainly argue he was a better defender though).

How in the hell was Deke worse offensively by a lot? From 97-00 Deke averaged 12.4 ppg while being 3rd in the league in TS% over that timespan (for players over 10 ppg). Rudy averages slightly more PPG and is leading the league in TS% over the last 4 years but that's only slightly better than Deke.

And defensively they're not comparable, Deke is probably the best defender ever next to Bill Russell. In terms of the +/- numbers he's by far the most dominant defensive player since 1997. Like it's not even remotely close.

Shaq averaged 23 points and 13 rebounds in the games he played with Mutumbo which is his career average - keep in mind that Shaq obviously scored some of his buckets in those games when Mutumbo was not guarding him.

Shaq's career high in a game with Mutumbo was 44 points and 20 rebounds, so while that is very close to what he predicted against Gobert - what is interesting is that Mutumbo also dropped 23 points and 18 rebounds against Shaq himself (keep in mind, Gobert is a better scorer and better passer than Mutumbo).


So while the idea that Shaq might have a crazy explosive game against Gobert is not crazy at all, the idea that Gobert will only have 11 points and foul out in 3 quarters is a little ridiculous. It's not to say that it would never happen if they played a bunch of games, but he's basically creating a caricature of himself where he instant fouls out everyone which isn't true - that is what people remember as most people usually simplify players, but it's not literally how all his games when he went against other big time stars.

Shaq is obviously exaggerating but he averaged 33/16/5 in his only series against Deke with Deke picking up 5 fouls twice and fouling out once in 5 games in a year where Deke won DPOY. Deke is way better equipped to handle Shaq than Gobert is. Gobert isn't staying in the game with Shaq, and he'll get his numbers too, but Shaq isn't crazy to say he'd foul him out. Again his post is just a slight exaggeration.

The funniest part about this is Shaq is beefing with internet randos and taking it out on Rudy for some reason.

[andrewww]

Shaq is a great player but he's so insecure. He trashes every center. Gobert is just the current target.

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone considering Shaq trashed Kobe originally when he felt threatened by him being the "alpha" on the team.

[WHITE_HOT_HEAT]

Don't know why Shaq is being such a bitch about this. As far as I know Rudy has done NOTHING to instigate this

Shaq picks fights with the most random people. He's very insecure for someone who's found so much success. For all the perception of Basketball players being cool, I find a very few of them actually cool and chill.

I'm guessing it's actually because he saw the deal that Rudy got and on comparing that to his own contracts w.r.t to production and star status perceives it to be something unfair.

To add to that Rudy is a foreigner. Somehow American basketball players love picking on Non-American ones.

[pace31]

Anyone knocking Shaq here isn’t old enough to have lived through prime Shaq years. He was completely unstoppable.

False, I lived through Shaq's whole career and if he could've had a respectable FT% I think he would've been the GOAT center without debate, even with the bad FT% he still has a case.

That's totally irrelevant to what's happening here though. He's just attacking someone unprovoked and for no good reason.

[Sgt Major]

How many points would a mobile center that can shoot from outside drop on Shaq? He would've been ran off the court with today's tempo of the game.

[Harry Garris]

Anyone knocking Shaq here isn’t old enough to have lived through prime Shaq years. He was completely unstoppable.

Anyone knocking Shaq here isn't saying Shaq wasn't a dominant player, they're recognizing that since Shaq has retired he's acted like a little baby constantly trying to diminish the accomplishments of modern players and talk about how much better he was/the league was back when he played. Which just isn't true. Shaq wasn't dropping 45 & 17 all the time, not even at his peak, and there were a lot of truly garbage centers Shaq went against in the late 90s/early 2000s.

[Harry Garris]

How many points would a mobile center that can shoot from outside drop on Shaq? He would've been ran off the court with today's tempo of the game.

Young Shaq would have been athletic and quick enough to play now but yeah after Shaq got to Miami and became slow and out of shape he would not have been able to stay on the floor in today's NBA. Shaq's peak was brief compared to most all-time greats and conditioning was a big part of why.

[LloydFree]

He wasn't that good. It would have taken the full 4 quarters to put up the 45 and 16...

But he would have done it.

[Son Goku 25]

Don't know why Shaq is being such a bitch about this. As far as I know Rudy has done NOTHING to instigate this

its hilarious for some reason.

My exact reaction was Y tho?

[Sedale Threatt]

Anyone knocking Shaq here isn’t old enough to have lived through prime Shaq years. He was completely unstoppable.

That's not the point. Shaq is one of my all-time favorite Lakers and overall players. It was a spectacle watching him completely destroy other freaks of nature. But he's always had this nasty, immature streak and it makes him look small. Hated it back in the day when it was tearing up one of the greatest duos in NBA history (with plenty of help from Kobe, unfortunately) and I hate it now that he's in the position of elder statesman but instead chooses to constantly start these petty little beefs.

[Wonka]

Shaq has such an inferiority complex for being such a larger than life figure. He’s human like the rest of us. Doesn’t make it any less annoying or self serving but it is what it is.

Shaq is right though.

[UcanUwill]

Shaq is a great player but he's so insecure. He trashes every center. Gobert is just the current target.

Well, he likes Boban, but thats because he is not threaten by him I guess. Dude seriously tries to diminish every star center, sad middle life cricey going on here, or post prime jock crisis.

[Childs]

I don't understand why he needs to act like this. He was one of the most dominant centers in his prime. So why?

[TheSeeker]

Shaq would have out muscled Rudy, and would score a lot. The Jazz would bring out Shaq to a high pick and roll and take advantage of his slow speed (even young Shaq would have had trouble recovering). Rudy's ability to catch lobs in the PnR give the Jazz a big advantage. Shaq would have to drop to stop Rudy, which would live the perimeter players open. So Rudy may only have 12 points, but it will leave the Jazz perimeter players wide open.

One of Rudy's best attributes (for a big) is his ability to recover. Hell, he blocked a interior shot and then a three in the same sequence last night.

A lot of what Rudy does is not in the general stat sheet. Very good screen assists, and the amount of players that just refuse to come inside when he is in the game (watch the difference in Spurs offense last night when Rudy was on or off the floor). What impresses me the most with Rudy is his footwork, and how he stays on the ground straight up to avoid fouls (something he used to have an issue with). Just standing straight up creates a ton of missed shots, something Ewing was very good at as well.

If you could bring prime Shaq into today's game, he would still do well, but would not have the same impact with the changes to the game. His weaknesses on D would be exposed.

When Shaq played, he was the most dominant player in the league. So yes, on offense, he would dominate Rudy. But he would be exposed in today's game and I'm not sure if the result in a net plus for his team, especially because I think his hard drives would be much more likely to be called a charge in today's softer game.

[NoZoLakers]

How many points would a mobile center that can shoot from outside drop on Shaq? He would've been ran off the court with today's tempo of the game.

Not if he gets them in foul trouble 1st

[SeanieWard]

Shaq is acting like a trick again and I'm not a fan of his antics as an analysis but there is 0 doubt in my mind that Shaq can drop 45+ on Gobert along with 20 rebounds. I've always said since I started watching basketball religiously in the late 90s, that Shaq is the 2nd best
basketball player that I've seen after LeBron in terms of impacting a game

If he could dominate Mutombo, who to me was a better defender than Gobert, then he'd have no problem destroying any defensive big in this era

[The_Hater]

Don't know why Shaq is being such a bitch about this. Rudy has done NOTHING to instigate this

Shaq has attacked almost all the top modern Centers at one point or another. Dwight was on his radar for years. Embiid. Even Anthony Davis recently

I’m not exactly sure what Shaq thinks he needs to prove though? He was the best player on the planet in his prime for about 5-6 years and an utterly unstoppable force. Absolutely nobody is saying that any of these modern Centers he is attacking are better players. Nobody.

[Sign5]

Of course, heres a graphic of Gobert trying to guard the Big Diesel.

[ILOVEIT]

Rudy was defensive player of the year.

He averages almost 15ppg, 14rpg and 2bpg. He's 28 years old and right in his prime.

He easily deserves the max or very close to the max.

Just like he did on Mutumbo....oh ...wait...he never did.