Is it me...or is Shaq the greatest center ever?

Question

Is Shaq even one of the top 5 players in NBA history? What do you think?

Answer 1

He is the greatest center of all-time because he owned the games, teams had to double and triple team him, and he could stil score and draw the foul. He even developed into a great low post passer, so teams were afraid to help out in the low post. Refs even call the game differently for shaq. Wilt never had the all-around skills that Shaq had, and wilt never could own the paint like shaq did

Answer 2

Shaq isn't even close to being the greatest center ever

you can't even compare Shaq to Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

you cannot tell me with a serious face that he's better than any of those 3 guys

Answer 3

I don't think he's one of the top 5 players in NBA history, but he is one of the top 5 centers in NBA history.

He's not the best center in NBA history though, that would be Bill Russell, followed by Wilt Chamberlain, then Shaq, then Akeem Olajuwon, then David Robinson...assuming we're talking only about players in their primes.

Top 5 players in NBA history, is obviously MJ, then Magic, then Bird, then Bill Russell, then Dr. J

Answer 4

Hakeem was much better than Shaq, and he played against Ewing, and Robinson when they were close in age. Shaq played against them once they got old. Hakeem did beat Shaq in the finals too. Hakeem was much better on D than Shaq ever was. Shaq would never leave his feet to play D. A guy that size, his rebounds and blocks should have been alot higher. Oh yeah, I forgot, Shaq is a fatty, had to rely on Kobe and Wade to help him get Championships. Hakeem practically carried his teams to 2 championships.

Answer 5

Shaq is the 4th greatest center of all-time.

Answer 6

Shaq was picked as the # 1 player of all time in Elliot Kalb's "Who's Better, Who's Best in Basketball". His reasoning was that at no time in the modern history of the NBA has the best player (Shaq) been this much better than the 2nd best player (Tim Duncan).

Kalb's rankings were:

1) Shaq
2) Wilt
3) Jordan
4) Russell
5) Abdul-Jabbar
6) Bird
7) Magic
8) Oscar Robertson

Basically, Kalb argues that these 8 guys are the only players in NBA history who can reasonably argue that they are the best ever. Tim Duncan actually ranked 9th in his book.

Wilt was as strong, or stronger than Shaq, was a far superior athlete, a much better leaper and shot blocker, and was far more schooled in the fundamentals. Wilt actually played against much tougher competition throughout his career than Shaq has, because Wilt not only had to tangle with Bill Russell right off the bat, but he was playing against Russell more than 10 times per year... they met 142 times in their 10 years against each other, including playoffs, an average of 14x per season. If Wilt wasn't going against Russell, there's always Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy, Hall of Famer Nate Thurmond, Hall of Famer Willis Reed, Hall of Famer Wes Unseld, Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes, Hall of Famer Dave Cowens, Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo, Hall of Famer Bob Lanier, etc of yeah, and hall of Famer Kareem Abdul Jabbar! There are very few HOF Centers that Wilt didn't play against.

Since the retirements of Olajuwon, Ewing and Robinson, Shaq hasn't gone up against any future HOFers except Tim Duncan... Ben Wallace is 2nd team all NBA, but has no shot at the HOF... and he can't come close to guarding Shaq... Ben is STILL looking for Shaq after last year's eastern conference finals...oooops, Shaq just scored on Big Ben again!

I personally would rate Wilt, Russell and Jabbar as better than Shaq, particularly given the level of talent they faced at the center position....however, Shaq does have a decent arguement to be considered the best. He's actaully better than Ewing and Robinson...I'm not sure about Olajuwon, Hakeem was awesome in the 90s...but once Shaq passed Hakeem, when Hakeem got older, he hasn't had a serious challenger in the center position.

Russell won 11 championships in his 13 year career, Jabbar is the all time leading scorer and won six titles, and Wilt totally owns the record books (in addition to being the only center ever to lead the league in assists)...I would rate the three of them ahead of Shaq, but I actually think that Kalb's list does in fact have the top eight players correctly, although I'd disagree with the order.

I'll say one other thing...people are dead wrong when they say all Shaq does is dunk...he's got a better 12 foot jump shot from the baseline than 85% of the guards in the NBA.

Answer 7

He's may be one of the top 5 CENTERS of all time, but he's not quite in the same class as Wilt, Russell, or Kareem.

As far as players, I don't think he cracks the top ten. He hasn't played against as many great players or teams as there were in years past. It would be interesting to se how he would have fared against the players mentioned.

Answer 8

WHAT MADE WILT GOOD>

the other team;s centers were 6 ft 5 in tall. he didnt have to play against SHaw, Yao, Olaujowan, Ewing. he played against midgets.

also, he was allowed to run and jump from the free throw line and shoot 100% from the line.
shaq, i would say top 5. Ewing would have to be there too. Olajuwaon. Robinson. ahhh, he is more a power forward.

Answer 9

I have to agree, Shaq brought back a Russell- Chamberlain like aura. Wherever he went, the team won. I would have loved to see how he would have done against Jabbar, Chamberlain, and Russell. But I have to believe Shaq was the best.

Answer 10

It's just you, Shaq's great but he's not the best. Top 5 you bet!