Who is the Strongest Player in NBA History? - Ultimate Mixtape!

[Ritzo]

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Big Sofo

[70sFan]

I don't think any of these guys has a case over Shaq who caused a complete re-design of basketball stanchions.

He's the king of ragdolls. Wilt was posting up on the block and trying to prove he was a basketball player. Shaq was shoving guys under the basket and dunking on them. He was a 320lb football player playing basketball.

To be fair, Wilt wasn't allowed to play this way in his era.

He outweighed Gilmore by 50+lbs. I'm not going to blanket say weight = strength but Shaq's combination of explosion at that weight/bulk is the same kind of thing we've seen with Barkley and Zion in terms of sheer shock factor that a guy that size can still move like that and inflict that amount of force (i.e.strength)

Gilmore pushed around legit 300 lbs with such an ease that I don't think additional mass would help Shaq in this matchup. Gilmore was ridiculous in terms of functional basketball strength.

I like Yao as a guy who had a lot of brute strength (others have mentioned Pek) but Shaq's physical domination of guys in those early 00s has to get the nod.

Yao wasn't as strong as Wilt and Gilmore, he was also less explosive. By your own definition, Yao has no case over Gilmore or Wilt.

[70sFan]

Kareem blocking a couple of Wilt dunk attempts at point blank range 7:05. If you were to believe the myths he should have broken his hand

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There are numerous examples of Duncan blocking Shaq's dunks. Does it mean all of talk about his strengh is also a myth?

[70sFan]

For the life of me I can't understand why Orlando Magic Dwight Howard is never mentioned on these lists.

The guy was the strongest player in the League bar none during that phase. The matchup w/ him and older heavier Cavs Shaq is epic and you can see Shaq didn't bully him. His eventual advantage however was his sheer weight overcoming Howard's endurance.

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Howard is very strong, but not on these 3 level. He's much smaller than them and he was weaker in the post than them.

[70sFan]

I've made another scaled image, all three guys were absolutely massive. People underestimate Gilmore's size, he was skinny early in his career but by the time he came into the NBA he was all muscles and he had probably the strongest legs among these three.

[SkyHookFTW]

Others might have been able to bench more, but nobody used their strength and physicality quite like Shaq. His whole section is just him monstering absolutely huge dudes.

The rules allowed for that type of play style. Today’s NBA would see him tossed 10 times a season.

[LakerLegend]

Others might have been able to bench more, but nobody used their strength and physicality quite like Shaq. His whole section is just him monstering absolutely huge dudes.

The rules allowed for that type of play style. Today’s NBA would see him tossed 10 times a season.

Rules or not nobody in the NBA today remotely had the physical tools he did to do that.

[Blacksheep25]

Wilt was certainly a strong freak. The other two guys I don’t think of in that way. Huge.

When I think strong I think a Steven Adams or Ben Wallace. Guys without much skill beyond raw strength.