Who would you draft over Shaq?

Obviously you want the guys who can do the most for your team. So guys like MJ, Magic, Bird, Lebron and Oscar Robertson would be high on the list. Not only will they score for you but they will also playmake and make everyone around them better. Basically getting 2 for 1.

:oldlol: @ Lebron. Duncan or Kobe would be less of a Reach. Even if you knew how good MJ would be you wouldn't take him, Shaq had the talent to make a bad team good instantly and be a playoff lock every season. [url]http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri=%2F#/watch?v=A2ihMxi1H4M[/url]

Andray Blatche

I wouldn't take anyone if we're talking pre-draft specifications other than maybe Wilt.

Re-evaluating careers I'll take more than a couple dudes.

More than 10.

Wilt, Bill Russell, Kareem, 18 year old Sabonis are 4 players I would consider

Michael Jordan
Hakeem Olajuwon
Lebron James
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Oscar Robertson
Wilt Chamberlain


..and ofcourse Reggie Miller :)

Tim Duncan is underrated imo. I will take him. A big man who function relatively great at both ends, loyal, longevity, he's one of the few guys I think will excel in many different eras of basketball.

IVERSON... duh!

hakeem, wilt, kareem


if i had the benefit of foresight, jordan or bird. i may also try picking duncan.

[QUOTE=gengiskhan]

Despite pathetic resume, no one ever questioned Shaq's Top 50 players ever spot like they questioned Scottie Pippen's as 'Nique was Excluded.

Everyone who voted Shaq in the Top 50 players Ever in 1997 new one thing.

[B][SIZE="3"]Shaq is a GUARANTEED MULTIPLE TITLES in near future in his peak prime. Its just a matter of "WHEN" & with which franchise.[/SIZE][/B][/QUOTE]
For once I actually agree with you.

I'd draft Wilt Chamberlain over him. Dude was a beast. He would have thrown Shaq around like a rag doll since he was one of the strongest men in the world. Wilt bench pressed 500 pounds like it's nothing and killed a mountain lion with his bare hands. Call me when Shaq can do those herculean feats.

:coleman:

[QUOTE=deja vu]I'd draft Wilt Chamberlain over him. Dude was a beast. He would have thrown Shaq around like a rag doll since he was one of the strongest men in the world. Wilt bench pressed 500 pounds like it's nothing and killed a mountain lion with his bare hands. Call me when Shaq can do those [B]herculean feats[/B].

:coleman:[/QUOTE]

I'm sure he could take on a herculean feast though

Without hindsight, I'm not taking anybody over Shaq. Hopefully, I can also draft/trade and get a good SG to pair with Shaq, then it's game over for the leauge.

With hindsight, I'll take Michael Jordan. Dude was/would be unstoppable no matter what era. If he didn't retire early and come back, probably would of won more rings than Bill Russell.

So, Shaq without hindsight.

The G.O.A.T(Michael Jordan) with hindsight.

[QUOTE=FreezingTsmoove]Kareem, Hakeem, Duncan, Oscar, [B]Lebron,[/B] Magic [B]since I take loyalty to a franchise into accoun[/B]t[/QUOTE]


:coleman:

Kareem, Hakeem, Russell, Wilt, Kobe, Magic

I always say take the big man first over all.

But the only exception I would make of course is Jordan.
LeBron is looking like he may be an exception as well and is a good argument.

There for....

Jordan
Kareem
The Dream

and that's it.

This does not mean I think Shaq is the 4th greatest player of all time.
But if I had the 4th pick of an all time team I will be getting Shaq over Wilt.
Maybe I am a homer to my era but I would get Shaq at 4 and the three above players before Shaq.

If we are talking about big men..than Wilt easily. Unstoppable offensively and defensively. Great passing big man.

I think about this all the time, about the truely great prospects I've seen. Not so much how they turned out, but how they were percieved entering the league, and how I viewed their potential at that point.

Shaq is right at the top, just for his shear size and athleticism alone. One of the issues I think people have with Shaq is that inspite of his rediculous resume, you could make a pretty good case that he still underachieved.

Shaq, Lebron, immediately come to mind. So does Chris Webber, who's the first guy I remember coming out of HS with the kind of hype he did. And his skill set was so enormously complete. Of course he was taken first then traded, but still, that was due to the presence of Shaq on this list. Derrick Coleman, who's from my favorite school, and played in a way I found particualarly appealing, and I was pretty young at that point. Of course that didn't work out so well.
Much before that I don't remember a ton, as I was pretty young. But I do actively remember Ewing and Hakeem were both considered franchise changers, to the point where the Ewing draft fix is a pop culture fixture. And Ralph Sampson was a 7-4 do everything guy with a 3 National Player of the Year Pedigree coming in, who'd allegedly been offered the opportunity to go first in drafts going back to HS (a story he tells first person about Red Aurbach in the Jim Valvano 30 for 30, which was spectacular by the way).

So I'm looking at guys more in terms of how you'd draft them if every prospect were thrown in the same pot together, so it makes anyone who didn't go one a little tricky to guage, like Jordan, who was a dynamic prospect.


If you're asking it the other way, I'm building a team, and knowing what I know after the fact, who would I want to build it around, I'd take Kareem.

Only Kareem.

lol again with the WILT WOULD HOUSE SHAQ bullshat.

The other night when I watched Shaq's jersey get retired, those clips they showed of him... I remembered... how ****ing big that dude is. It's ridiculous how gigantic he was.

Like Kobe said dude is like the biggest athletic beast in NBA history. So, yeah you'd probably take him first if they were all coming out of college.

But if people could tell careers, other guys would have arguments. However, I think he would still be near the top because he could be plugged into a lot of other situations and still be successful. We never saw Shaq without a great wing... so we don't know how he'd play.

-Smak

Only Michael Jordan (with hindsight)

Not a single person if we talking bout going on talent. Knowing his career - there are a good few.

there are 10+ players easily that i would take over that lazy slob.

Could Shaq win a title as DA MAN without having another top 3 player in the league beside him?

Gimme MJ, Hakeem, KAJ, Tim Duncan, Magic, Bird, Kobe, Lebron, Wilt, all day over Shaq

I think Shaq could have been picked over anyone on potential, but his work ethic is no where near these 5, so they would all get the nod over Shaq:

Michael Jordan
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Wilt Chamberlain

[QUOTE=ILLsmak]lol again with the WILT WOULD HOUSE SHAQ bullshat.

The other night when I watched Shaq's jersey get retired, those clips they showed of him... I remembered... how ****ing big that dude is. It's ridiculous how gigantic he was.

Like Kobe said dude is like the biggest athletic beast in NBA history. So, yeah you'd probably take him first if they were all coming out of college.

But if people could tell careers, other guys would have arguments. However, I think he would still be near the top because he could be plugged into a lot of other situations and still be successful. We never saw Shaq without a great wing... so we don't know how he'd play.

-Smak[/QUOTE]
Shaq is the only guy Wilt went and got interviews to say Shaq had the opportunity to be better than Wilt himself. The ONLY guy he remotely said that about.
I dunno what would happen if '72 Wilt met up against 2001 Shaq except there WOULD be an earthquake in that town!!
Wilt from his Sixers days though...dude was just so fast, agile, totally ferocious and by far that vertical he had. It would be the dream of dreams to see them go after it

There is no possible way that I would draft Magic or Bird over Shaq.

Not Jordan either unless we're talking about hindsight (in which case this becomes just "who's better than Shaq" thread :coleman: )

Kareem, Hakeem. Wilt, depending on era. That's it.

I'd take ANYONE else from anyone's top 10 list over Shaq (assuming the top 10 list is relatively "normal," and not some weird personal list).

Assuming I have all players for the duration of their careers, and my goal is to win, I'll take the players that I think were better than Shaq over Shaq : Russell, Jordan, Magic, Wilt, Kareem, Bird

Shaq was dominant for 10 years, and then he was just a lard ass.

[QUOTE=Duderonomy]Is there anybody you would take over him to start a team? Kareem or Jordan maybe.[/QUOTE]

ewing

The players that I rank higher.

Jordan
Russell
Magic
Wilt
Kareem
Duncan

Debatable...Bird and Hakeem

[QUOTE=DMAVS41]The players that I rank higher.

Jordan
Russell
Magic
Wilt
Kareem
Duncan

Debatable...Bird and Hakeem[/QUOTE]

Nice list. Hypothetically speaking, if Bird never had back problems, I would take him over Shaq too.

Kobe

[QUOTE=KOBE143]Kobe[/QUOTE]
retard alert

[QUOTE=FreezingTsmoove]Kareem, Hakeem, Duncan, Oscar, [B]Lebron[/B], Magic since I take [B][SIZE="5"]loyalty [/SIZE]to a franchise into account[/B][/QUOTE]

:roll:

Whithout hindsight I would take over Shaq:
Kareem / Lew. He was the centerpiece of the most dominant NCAA team of all time, without ungardable shots. You had to know that he would become an all time great pretty easily.
Walton. So dominant in college. Same thing as Kareem, same team, but later. And a perfect record. They were winners and ungardable, both ready to dominate in the big league.

Obviously Wilt, because of his superior physical ability than Shaq (and the fact that he played hard both way of the floor).

And If I were a GM. If I had Shaq in the same draft as Ralph Samson, Hakeem, the admiral or Duncan I would have a hard choice. They all seem much easier to work with because of their more team-oriented character and demeanor.

As for Larry, Magic or Michael, well I would have picked those only if there were no future all-time great center in the draft. But i'd rather build a team around a big man, it's far easier to find quality guard than quality bigs.

I have no clue about Russel and Mikan, but perhaps they could have been considered at the same level as Shaq going into the draft. Well luckily those who picked them got more titles than Orlando and all the Florida's team combined :D

And the true unkown factor could be Yao, he was so tall and with the biggest marketing edge over anyone. But, I would have hired the best medics team ever to greenlight him or not before my choice. And hire a shooting coach right away to teach him fundamentals to be immediately ready. Imagine him with a reliable Kareem like hook-shot.

And I'm no expert of college basketball, so I can't say anything about (Oscar - guard so after Shaq), Bellamy or Baylor, but maybe they were also a no brainer.

Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson and Kareem. That's really it.

Larry Bird.

He's the only player who can truly get the most of his teammates while also possessing the ability to dominate the game on his own if necessary.

Bird guarantees you 50+ wins even if surrounded by crap.

Not sure you can say that for any other player in NBA history. Maybe LeBron too. That's it.

Are we to assume Shaq would be the same person he was in his actual career?

By this what I mean is:

- Coming into seasons out of shape
- Not willing to play alongside any other stars (Chris Webber, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, etc.)
- No loyalty to a franchise (how many did he play for? :durantunimpressed: )
- More interest in being a celebrity than an athlete


If that's all true, then I'd easily take Kareem, Jordan, Wilt, possibly Hakeem, Bird and Magic over him.