Barnes outlines why Shaq was more dominating than Wilt in his opinion.
Shaquille O’Neal, at seven feet one inch and three hundred pounds, was the epitome of a large guy. Big Diesel won four NBA titles, three Finals MVP honors, and fifteen All-Star Game appearances by using his size and strength.
When it comes to former NBA journeyman Matt Barnes, Shaq is the most dominant player. Disputes with him are difficult. When Barnes was in Los Angeles and Shaq was still at UCLA, he had close observation of O’Neal. Later in his career, Barnes had the opportunity to play alongside the renowned center once The Diesel relocated to Phoenix. Matt claimed that his superiority was unrivaled.
“With all due respect to Wilt, he’s the most dominant player in my opinion,” Barnes stated while recently appearing on Paul George’s Podcast P. “I felt like he played in an era where there was more bigs night to night and the competition was higher.”
Shaq was unstoppable
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Throughout his career, O’Neal faced a murderer’s row of big men and played from 1992 to 2011. The LSU product faced some of the best players in the game, including Dikembe Mutombo, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, and Hakeem Olajuwon. In addition to facing tough center competition, teams added bulk to their lineups in order to guard Shaq. Big Diesel was unstoppable despite all of these.
Barnes stated that O’Neal was by no means the greatest player. He was unable to make his free throws and did not have an outside shot. Nevertheless, despite his flaws, Shaq was able to dominate the game and the opposition was unable to stop him.
Shaq was untouchable in his prime, to put it mildly. He was unable to shoot, but you were unable to use him in any way. He was also cruel. ‘Okay, he gets cook, let him come the lane, I’m going to lay him out,’ Shaq would say. Shaq played in the old school rules, for example. He was simply amazing,” Matt continued.
