[Video] Shaquille O'Neal: Healthy Yao could be a top 5 center ever

I don't see how this is important right now. Shaq is a modern player, did not play with the older generation. He gave props where props is due. Those players above had greater numbers than Yao, no question, but you cannot rule out that he would have schooled a number of those. With size and skills alone. Just honor Yao for the moment.

 

I suggest you go watch Sabas in hisprime. He desstroyed a young Robinson the Olympics and he had the ability to score fom the 3pt line and even run the offense. he would school most centers not named Olajuwon if e came to the nba earlier

 

"Yao Ming is, you know, all set to retire and stuff like that."

Seriously? Nobody is commenting on this intro? WTF?

 

that was awkward

 

Statistics do not show Yao's real impact on the floor, just like they don't show Tracy's lack of testical fortitude.

 

Key word here is "healthy" we would definitely have been in the playoff making big noise these past 2 seasons and i think we could have beaten the lakers 3 seasons ago in the play off with a healthy yao

 

you honestly believe Yao's best was better than David Robinson's best? really???

did you ever see Robinson play?

 

Just curious, why would you not put Hakeem in the Number One Spot of Centers All-time? I acknowledge this would seem like a "homer" pick on the basis that a Houston fan like myself would consider putting in in the number one spot, but i think an objective case could be made here for Dream.

 

tinman must be rolling in his grave.

 

The funny thing about yao is that people automatically put him behind great players unless he performed better head to head. People assumed yao would be another Bradley until he destroyed Bradley in his rookie year. People assume he'll be destroyed by Shaq, but he held his own initially and beat shaq later. People assume there's no way DWH can't best yao until the game says otherwise. The appearance of yao and his stats are underwhelming but he always performed better in head to head matches.

Due to yao's huge frame and his non-rest summers, yao's overall stats is deflated, and it reflects more of his unselfishness, stamina issue(no rest) and Houston's slow pace strategy. Yao is quite agile early and could develop into a stat monster if on a fast paced team.

 

I'm not sure If Yao's best was better than Robinson's best, but I do know that Robinson would have been in for a LONG night If he matched up against a prime Gundy Yao. It is to bad that we didn't get to see what kind of stats Yao could have put up in the 80's/90's, when the game was MUCH more big oriented...

 

A 95% healthy YAO with around 15 years under his belt would have surpassed Ewing, Robinson and Sarbonis in skill, talent, achievements and records.

 

Yao head to head would have given Wilt, Kareem, Moses and Dream all kinds of trouble. Remember how much trouble Dream used to have with big lumbering C's?

Everyone has trouble with those guys, but the difference with Yao is that he can also drop 35 on you...

(Please stop comparing stats in different decades, or else I'll pull out the Wilt trump card...)

 

Dude, seriously you are delusional.

 

We'll never know to be honest, I doubt he could have been top 5 but his career was derailed by injury. His 06-07 year was pretty dominant.

 

You're getting way too worked up over this. Shaq said Yao could have been an all time center he didn't say he was an all time center.

First, take a breath and stop and figure out if you understand the DISTINCTION between those two statements.

Second why bring Tmac into the discussion? Makes you sound irrelevant, trolling or that you have Tmac up your ass and are obsessive. FWIW, Yao was the best center in the NBA for 5 years. From 2004-2009 he was better than fat Shaq and dominated Dwight. This isn't speculation like your post but statistically backed up. Even at his best it's not absolutely clear that Tmac was ever the best at his position in the NBA for even a single season. In the early-mid 2000s was Tmac better than Kobe? In the mid-late 2000s was Tmac better then Wade? If you were starting a team would you even take a prime 32 ppg Tmac over Ginobli? Tmac has nothing to do with this dont let your mind wander into irrelevancies.

Third comparing Yao to past greats is speculative. What we do know is that even the strongest guys in the history of the league like Shaq in his prime and a Dwight Howard on PEDs lol cant handle Yao. Ewing was 6'9" and Moses played part of his career at 230 or so. How would Ewing, Russell or Moses match up with Yao? That's a good question. Yao plays under vastly different rules than Kareem or Hakeem with very different defensive permissives and zone/double team rules. How do you compare these players? Yao undoubtably would have been more dominant in an era where they couldn't double team regularly and when the verticality of the league was different in terms of fouls. Shaq has an opinion and it's actually a very interesting question. You listing a bunch of names doesn't advance any counter argument.

As for the actual statement there's a couple of things. Take them for what they're worth when you consider what Shaq said:

1) Shaq owes Yao. Yao bailed him out when Shaq made some racist statements that could have turned him into the Mel Gibson of the NBA. Since then Shaq has been circumspect to Yao.

2) Shaq is a r****d. He can't help busting out the hyperbole when the attention is on him. Thus Phil Jackson is the "best coach of all time" and Pat Riley is the "best coach of all time" depending on where the spotlight is shone at that moment. He is figurative not literal. There's likely 7 guys on Shaq's all-time list and 10 guys who "could have" been top 5.

3) Shaq doesn't lie. We've seen through the years that whatever mental deficiencies Shaq has it's impossible to get him to say the PC thing when he doesn't agree. Shaq said Yao could have been a top 5 center. Shaq said Yao WAS great. You can QQ and poop ur pants over this terrible insult to ur memories but Shaq probably does believe those things.

4) The mutual admiration is real. Just like Yao thanked Shaq in his retirement speech, Shaq played against Yao and he earned his respect. Yao and Shaq always brought their A games and the matchups between Shaq and Yao were the most epic battles seen in the NBA since the 95 playoffs with Dream/Shaq/Robinson.

 

I wouldn't say I disagree with you, but an important thing you don't seem to be taking note of is that we never saw how good Yao could have become if he stayed healthy through his prime. Injuries started to limit his abilities on the court a good few years before his prime... And he probably would have won a couple championships with a healthy Rockets squad.

We would remember him very differently if he had been that lucky. I'm sure he would have at least still been the best center in the game today. As for where he would rank on the all-time list, that's harder to say.

 

Just by being so huge, Yao would be a big challenge for any of the all time greats. Couple with his ability to shoot. Yao I think would have held his own ground with any match-up if its a 1 on 1.
Team ball however.....

 

Dude, just stop it.

If Carlos Boozer didn't have a tough time, Robinson wouldn't have either. Robinson had a legit outside game. He wasn't an offensive scrub like Dwight Howard was his first 3-4 seasons. Please do not compare Dwight Howard's offensive games to the legendary centers I mentioned.

Did you even watch those centers play back in the day?

Look, we saw Yao at his best before the injuries. When we catered to him (play him 33 minutes in 06-07), he put up 25, 9, and 2 blocks. People can pick 3-4 game stretches here and there and claim that is his best, that's not logical. 06-07 was Yao's best and consistent stretch as a pro, and he never played at that level again for that long of a stretch.

And that stretch was NOT anywhere close to the level of production the other centers I named. Nowhere close.