Was Shaq's weight ever a problem outside of 03-04' and 08'+?

[jaypo]

I'll note that being fat doesn't mean being in bad shape. Plenty of football players are fat and still have incredible strength and explosion. Obviously in terms of cardio you're never going to be able to outcompete but I'm sure all that mass gave him a huge mechanical advantage thyat was a big reason he was so successful with his style of play.

But that's my point- he wasn't "fat". "Fat" means obese, which is measured by things like BMI and body fat%. If his body fat % was slightly above college athlete level, does that make him "fat"? He is a huge man by nature. When he was in college and looked like a skinny kid, he was 295lbs. Watch some videos of his first few years in the league when he played around 325lbs- he looked like a skinny kid. In 200-2003, he looked like a powerlifter. He did this by design, as someone mentioned above. He started lifting weights for the first time to deal with the physical play in the WC. He put on a lot of muscle. But he didn't exceed 15% body fat. Look at him now in those "General" commercials- he's 45 yrs old and years removed from playing in the NBA. This is probably the worst shape he's been in in years, and he still isn't very bad for a man with his body type. People equate him in LA to what he is now.

About his work ethic, it's easy for a 6'7" guard to work that hard. But strap 7 inches and about 150lbs of weight to his back, and let's see how many more hours he spends in the gym!

Regardless of whether that 15% number is true (I have my doubts), that's still pretty fat by professional athlete standards. Most will be in the 6-10% range. He's a huge man in general, granted but if you look at pictures of him next to LeBron or even Kobe it's clear he's not a trim guy.

And if Arnold stood next to Lebron or Kobe, he'd look huge as well.

Did you ever watch when Karl Malone was in WCW Wrestling? Karl Malone looked HUGE and bulky on the court. But in the ring next to those Wrestlers, he actually looked skinny. Why? Perspective. Of course Shaq will look like a "not trim guy" next to people half his size! He has a completely different body type! He's a 7 ft 1 inch man with genetics to be a big person. Kobe is a 6 ft 7 slim framed person. Not an apples and apples comparison.

[Bush4Ever]

I'm not sure exactly what it means to be a problem in this case.

More importantly, I don't know what the comparison point or counterfactual is.

Obviously, someone with Shaq's dimensions and abilities is going to put out major production no matter what, short of major injuries and ludicrous situations.

To me a better question is whether Shaq at 340 (for example) was better or worse than what he would have been at 325 (for example), taking all things into account.

I'm not really sure what the optimal point was for his weight, but watching Shaq in real time (I was in high school during his best years on the Lakers) I thought he would be better if he dropped 10-15 pounds, and I especially thought it would help him get out and challenge the pick and roll better and generally put less stress on his body. But I'll admit to not being sure.

[Cavsfansince84]

It was a problem because it caused more injuries and took away from his quickness and jumping ability. I think he would be more seriously considered top 5 of all time had he made an effort to stay under 300lb and not tried to add so much muscle. I think he also had a tendency to indulge too much with food.

[Clyde Frazier]

I'm sure the weight gain had to contribute some to him missing games, or maybe his lack of attention to training in the offseason as some have said. I've speculated in the past that probably the 1 difference if he came up today would be a focus on keeping him in his orlando frame. Maybe running the floor more as he was great at that in orlando. Otherwise, he'd be just as dominant today. Such a freak physical specimen given what he was able to do on the floor.

[bwgood77]

It was a problem almost every year, at least starting around the 2000s. He would always start the season out of shape and play himself into shape by maybe mid season or a little earlier. I think he even talked about how that's what he did.

[SkyHookFTW]

Shaq is a rather unique individual for basketball, given his particular build. The only person in the NBA we can really compare him to is Old Wilt, who was carrying 315 his final season.

Young Shaq was a beast, but even them you saw in his build that if not careful, he could put on weight down the road. This is not unusual for big men with a large lower base like Shaq. I saw this playing football. We had nine guys over 300 pounds when I played in college. All but one was an offensive lineman. All had one thing in common: a thick lower body. Of course, none were over 6'6", but when you were in the gym with other athletes the difference was very noticeable if you focused on body types. Shaq almost had the lower body of an o-lineman in football, with big thick legs and a body that could hold more weight. You had to be very vigilant with nutrition and working out. I'm 30 pounds heavier now than when I was playing. I still work out, but I'm on the old side of 60 and can't do what I once did. So, I deal with being 6'4" and 275 instead of 245.

Wilt was different. He had a larger frame than you would think, looking at his younger day pictures, but he didn't have a huge lower body. Unlike Shaq, Wilt was a workout warrior and it showed in his upper body. The better your muscle/fat ratio, the easier it is to keep the weight off, as maintaining muscle means you will burn more calories. Wilt's body fat % was, I understand, ridiculously low for a man his size. Some of the stories about it being 8% at simply false, as Wilt himself told me between 10-14% when he played. I asked Wilt abut playing at 310-315, and he said he had to work harder than usual at that weight to keep the body fat down. Wilt was still effective though, proof is that he led the league in rebounding his last year. Even though his vertical was at its lowest, he said he compensated by paying more attention to his positioning--it was always good, but he really focused on it when he could--and his upper body strength let his take equally contested rebounds from other players. Yeah, note to posters who don't think upper body strength matters--it does.

Given that Wilt busted his butt in the gym to stay in shape, and Shaq didn't to the same degree, I have to assume that the weight he carried affected him to some degree health-wise. But for the most part, Shaq was an effective player with or without the weight until the last few years. If Shaq had the workout ethic of Wilt, he still would have had weight issues later due to body type, but they would have been held off for a few years. I believe, based on my own experience and what I have personally seen from other athletes, Shaq could have extended his prime by two more years. That would put Shaq squarely in the GOAT conversation for me if it happened.

[ardee]

Duh?

96 54
97 51
98 60
02 67
03 67
04 67

2 80 game seasons (his first two) and 5 70 game seasons. Who played that many years and missed so many games? I can't remember any major injuries either (I mean I can't remember I didn't google this) so I'd love to know why the guy was constantly missing games. If he'd been in better shape (which means leaner) I think he'd have had a hell of a lot better career, and he'd be the top 5 player a LOT of people here think he was.

I can remember Matt Geiger punching his thumb while he was in Orlando (watched it happen as I was hammering out incline bench press at my gym). That put him out for a while. He also tore an oblique muscle (which I can testify is VERY debilitating). That makes it almost impossible to turn, much less, play basketball. He also had a big, uncoordinated idiot fall on his knee and, luckily, the ACL was intact. But he had to take time off for that. And the foot issue. None of which were due to how good a shape he was in.

But about his weight, people need to remember that weight is a number. His body fat % was never over 15% (and the average college athlete's is 12%).

The injuries I mentioned above that caused him time off were NOT due to his weight or shape. They were due to accidents (or in Geiger's case, purposely done!). Being in better shape doesn't make your knee impervious to a 260lb man snapping it backwards when falling on it. Being in shape doesn't make your thumb indestructible.

The only real time his "shape" came into play was when he waited too long to get his foot fixed, which was really stupid on his part. The misconception with Shaq has always been that he "came to camp out of shape and didn't work hard enough". But what people fail to mention is the source of that statement. Kobe. Kobe hated him. And Kobe was notorious for being the hardest worker in the NBA. So just because a player doesn't work as hard as him, that doesn't mean that he wasn't working hard. Plus, Shaq's production was always there. And like I always say, if Shaq was able to do what he did while being out of shape and fat, well, he must be the GOAT!

PS- nobody ever criticizes Bill Russell for sitting in the stands smoking cigarettes reading the newspaper while his teammates ran sprints, do they???

15% is chubby by athlete standards, i was aleays told 12% is fat, but not important here. Weight leads to injuries, period. Being in shape, and flexible rrduces them, but even if wr assume shaq was i. great shape, the bigger they are the harder they fall still aplies.

Depends on how much muscle mass you have. If you're DYEL and 12%, you may have some kind of belly. If you've been lifting a while, 12% is not fat at all.

[KobesScarf]

Yes and No

Yes because its why he missed so many games
No because by the playoffs he was always in good shape and performed

[dhsilv2]

I can remember Matt Geiger punching his thumb while he was in Orlando (watched it happen as I was hammering out incline bench press at my gym). That put him out for a while. He also tore an oblique muscle (which I can testify is VERY debilitating). That makes it almost impossible to turn, much less, play basketball. He also had a big, uncoordinated idiot fall on his knee and, luckily, the ACL was intact. But he had to take time off for that. And the foot issue. None of which were due to how good a shape he was in.

But about his weight, people need to remember that weight is a number. His body fat % was never over 15% (and the average college athlete's is 12%).

The injuries I mentioned above that caused him time off were NOT due to his weight or shape. They were due to accidents (or in Geiger's case, purposely done!). Being in better shape doesn't make your knee impervious to a 260lb man snapping it backwards when falling on it. Being in shape doesn't make your thumb indestructible.

The only real time his "shape" came into play was when he waited too long to get his foot fixed, which was really stupid on his part. The misconception with Shaq has always been that he "came to camp out of shape and didn't work hard enough". But what people fail to mention is the source of that statement. Kobe. Kobe hated him. And Kobe was notorious for being the hardest worker in the NBA. So just because a player doesn't work as hard as him, that doesn't mean that he wasn't working hard. Plus, Shaq's production was always there. And like I always say, if Shaq was able to do what he did while being out of shape and fat, well, he must be the GOAT!

PS- nobody ever criticizes Bill Russell for sitting in the stands smoking cigarettes reading the newspaper while his teammates ran sprints, do they???

15% is chubby by athlete standards, i was aleays told 12% is fat, but not important here. Weight leads to injuries, period. Being in shape, and flexible rrduces them, but even if wr assume shaq was i. great shape, the bigger they are the harder they fall still aplies.

Depends on how much muscle mass you have. If you're DYEL and 12%, you may have some kind of belly. If you've been lifting a while, 12% is not fat at all.

Trainet always said visible abs or youre fat, but a whole other topic, and i have no issue being called fat.

[CumberlandPosey]

Im sure it wasnt a problem for himself.he had fun.he won.he earned huge amounts of dollars.he lived his dream and he was loved by many.what more can you expect? (Well maybe he could have tried to hit a freethrow once in a while but hey...who cares.thanks shaqdaddy)

[Hook_Em]

Shaq on 03' and 04' was a behometh. His foot speed and defense was eroding by then. Still a dominant player though.

Watch on YouTube

[Witzig-Okashi]

I do think that his size did play a role in how people guarded him with hacking him, even if (or when) he got away with offensive fouls. Back during the 05-06 season, Riley even went as far to suggest to get sumo wrestlers to defend him during practice (he was supposedly around 340 lbs around the time).

http://journalstar.com/sports/riley-considers-using-sumo-wrestlers-to-help-shaq/article_b2c799ae-d836-51cd-91fa-c79afe715de2.html

Here's an article going into a bit more detail...

[jaypo]

Im sure it wasnt a problem for himself.he had fun.he won.he earned huge amounts of dollars.he lived his dream and he was loved by many.what more can you expect? (Well maybe he could have tried to hit a freethrow once in a while but hey...who cares.thanks shaqdaddy)

Exactly! I often wonder what people expect. To put up the numbers he did given his set of circumstances, and people still judge him based on what THEY thought should have happened.

It's the same thing as saying Russell isn't a GOAT candidate because he never scored more than 18.9 ppg in a season, and the only reason he has so many rings is because he had 7 HOFers at his side at all times. Sounds pretty ridiculous, huh?

[feyki]

He was 170 KG along with 02 and 03 seasons. 04 and 05 seasons were only years to he had not any issue about his weight since he peaked(00', 01').