Highest reasonable ranking for Shaq?

[capfan33]

Also, he had 14FGA on post-ups that postseason, so about 70% of his overall shot attempts were post-ups.

[Cavsfansince84]

Reasonable depends entirely on criteria being used or preferred. So with that in mind if someone is really into peaks or 3-5 year stretches to define how good of a career a player had top 4 might be reasonable. I think his injuries, lack of dedication on defense and ft shooting woes have to be part of the equation though. Otherwise your criteria is too selective to seem valid.

[No-more-rings]

If someone doesn’t much care for longevity, then I don’t see why #1 would be out of the question. I think he has too much going against him though for that to be reasonable imo. I think 3rd or 4th is the absolute highest in my mind.

[Big NBA Fan]

His peak was INSANE and he had a couple of spectacular seasons outside of 00-02, but his decline was tough to watch and he was injury-prone with a hard-to-manage personality.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

His 2nd and 3rd years in the NBA with Orlando were spectacular as well; he put up video game numbers in the golden age of Centers at a super-young age.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Having watched these videos, 2nd year Shaq in Orlando would be best-suited for today's NBA.

[FlyingArrow]

2nd.

First, you put high emphasis on post play and rim protection. That leaves him only in competition with the top centers and power forwards. No need to bring up Kobe, Jordan, Bird, Curry, LeBron, Magic.

You put some decent emphasis on rings. That knocks Olajuwon out of the running and gives Shaq some advantage over Wilt.

You emphasize offense more than defense. That probably puts him ahead of Duncan and Russell, but puts Wilt back ahead of Shaq.

You emphasize peak over longevity. That coupled with discounting Duncan's defense puts Shaq clearly over Duncan.

Then you discount the 60s and before based on the weakness of the era. That drops Wilt and Russell completely.

Then all you have ahead of Shaq is Kareem. I don't think you can make a case for Shaq over Kareem.

[LAL1947]

4th i think if you are low-ish on russel and duncan

i dont see his case vs kareem, lebron or jordan

I think for the case of Shaq against Kareem, Lebron, Duncan and Russell, you have to use a little imagination in addition to numbers, records, etc. Part of player comparisons does involve imagination, right? So, how do you imagine those four guys would fair against young Shaq if they all came into the league in the same season? He was 300 LBs when he came into the league, a good 50 LBs more than any of them in their rookie seasons. When I try to imagine it myself going year-by-year with all being the same age, I can't see it going very well for them at all. Jordan is the only one who might get the better of Shaq under these circumstances, since we know he was a maniac, haha.

As an aside, I was looking to see how much Shaq weighs now and came across this video where he's talking about his playing weights. I've always said that Shaq became too lazy/fat sometime around 2002... and here in 2021, the knob is actually boasting about being 395 LBs when the 2001-02 final was played, and I know he got fatter in 2002-03 after that toe thing. Then he says he went back down to 315 LBs in his 1st year at Miami. It makes me want to bang my head that he thinks this is something to boast about. He ruined our dynasty and gifted one to Duncan, the imbecile.

"Shaq revealed his weight while winning his four championships and present day:

- 2000 Lakers: 345 pounds
- 2001 Lakers: 365 pounds
- 2002 Lakers: 395 pounds
- 2005 Heat: 325 pounds
- Current: 375 pounds"

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[JordansBulls]

With one league mvp no higher than 5th all time.

[ty 4191]

Probably the most dominant post scorer in history.

Shaq 94-03: Per 36 minutes 26.8 ppg
Wilt 60-65 (before he stopping shooting and focused mainly on defense and passing: Per 36 minutes 31.6 ppg

[ceoofkobefans]

I can see Shaq (along with Tim Duncan and maybe Hakeem and Kobe Bryant) as high as 4th all time. Id have him 5th all time behind TD and LeBron Kareem and MJ are a tier above everyone else

[picko]

If you place a particularly high weight on peak then you could argue quite easily for top three. As amazing as Jordan, LeBron and Kareem were - my clear top three of all time - none of them felt as broken as peak Shaq.

[Ginoboleee]

For career, anywhere between 5 and 15.
Ideal range probably somewhere between 8 and 12.

Alternative Timeline Shaq (diet, working things out with Kobe, improving FTs, etc.) could have been anywhere within the Top 4.

But the Real World Shaq Timeline (sweeps, flaws, etc.) are not quite at that last elevated Goat Mountain tier.

Peak Shaq though?!
OMG, ultimate power, total cheat code, with the only real competitive uncertainty being determined by what the ref's did or did not decide to do about that unstoppable physical power (he was fouled 10x more than anybody in the history of the game, easily; don't bother looking up some stupid statistic, just go back and watch a rando game on slow motion and keep track yourself).