Shaq wasn't bad at defense; he was a much more athletic and stronger version of Yao. Nobody could back him down in the post. I'll admit his rotations were slow but he was a good shotblocker and intimidator and great post defender. He was also a much better rebounder than Yao and finisher once he gobbled up an offensive rebound.
what's that got to do with it? Shaq and Duncan came into the golden age of power forwards and the crappy age of centers-you have clowns like Jamal Magloire and Erick Dampier thinking they're the 2nd best Cs in the league while on the PF you have KG, Pau Gasol, Duncan and Dirk all playing in the West. If anything Shaq should have gotten more all nba as his competion were weaksauce.
Shaq came into the league when Dream, Ewing and Robinson were at their peak and he dominated two and kept up with the other one. Shaq was a monster and made teams contenders instantly. Duncan landed on a great team that tanked to get him.
Don't forget Zo and Mutombo as well - two all-time great defensive centers whom Shaq's had his way with.
Shaq, Dream, Ewing, Robinson, Zo, Mutombo, and some other overlapping very good ones in Daughtery, Smits, and Divac--sounds more like the golden age for centers for most of Shaq's prime. And Shaq was a beast on defense and the boards his first 10 years, people forget his 1st title was until his 8 season and he didn't go to Miami until his 13th season. In his prime he had more offensive and defensive impact than Duncan. I think Duncan surpassed him as an all around player in 05--but that was because Shaq lost some of his athleticism at 33. Even then he just got off dominating the best defensive frontline in the NBA (Detriot) who gave Duncan more fits the next year. Judging Shaq now is like judging Hakeem based on his last very ugly playoff match-up with Shaq. And finally, again, Duncan has always played the majority of his minutes at Center, particularly in the playoffs. Don't try to use different metrics (judge them within their formal position peers instead of each other) just because Duncan liked to play a few opening minutes at PF.
Voted for Kazaam. Don't care for the guy, but he has had a dominating run of at least 10 consecutive years, any of which Timmy's best year doesn't even come close to.
Are you freaking serious? Dream entered the league at 1984 after finishing four years of college. Shaq entered the league 8 years later. Shaq may have indeed entered during Hakeem and Ewing's prime, but a couple years more and those two were declining. Shaq made teams contenders but long term his team had to get rid of him for one reason or another.Duncan otoh has been an asset from day 1 till now in his twilight years.
Getting goodbug to agree with you is not a strong argument. goodbug would probably agree with you if you said "if Shaq had been traded in 1999, Kobe would have led the Lakers to the next ten championships by himself. He's the GOAT!!!!1!"
Also cannot ignore the rule changes. The legal zones really hurt big's. Shaq played most of his prime in a league that frowned upon zone defense and promoted one on one play. Tim played all of his prime years being zoned every time he got the ball inside.
Shaq is only 4 years older. Considering he is going into his 17th year, it is pretty safe to say the vast majority of their career they had the same rules. Further, given the two Duncan MVP years Shaq was the playoff MVP--pretty safe to say they had years where both were in their primes.
TD played for 1 team his whole career. Shaq is on his 6th team with the Celtics. They both have 4 rings but TD was the key to all 4 titles while Shaq rode Wade's coattails for his 4th ring and has been ring chasing ever since. TD is 1st or 2nd team all Defense every year. Shaq is a terrible defender especially against the pnr. TD gets along with all his teammates. Shaq pushes his all star wings under the bus. TD has been in shape and durable pretty much his whole career. Shaq often fat and out of shape. Plus TD still has 5 years of 15 pts 10 reb of bb left while Shaq is now a role player.
Shaq was first team all-NBA the year Miami won the championship, and averaged 18/10 with 61% shooting in the playoffs. He was also one year removed from finishing second in MVP voting. That's hardly riding Wade's coattails.
Shaq should not have been 1st team all nba. He missed lots of games during that season. Yao doesn't get 1st team over Howard in 06-07 even though Yao had vastly superior stats because of missed games during the regular season. Also for the finals vs the Mavs http://www.nba.com/heat/stats/2005/nba_finals_stats.html Wade 34.7 pts Walker 13.8 pts Shaq 13.7 pts Everyone rode Wade's coattails on that team just like most people rode mj's coattails during the 6 titles.
Ridiculously not true. San Antonio's last championship Tony Parker CLEARLY was the best player on the floor. Duncan has been outplayed by too many players not mention Shaq (in his prime). Stoudamire owned Duncan in that playoff series. Shaq wins easily...
To be fair, Shaq carried the Heat past Detroit that year. Hell, I think up until the finals he was doing pretty damn well - had a 30/20 game IIRC even.
