“Knock his teeth out of his mouth!” Shaquille O’Neal claims he would’ve showed NO MERCY to Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt averaged 46 minutes in his whole career whereas Shaq had 40 minutes average games in just one of the seasons in his entire career.

“Knock his teeth out of his mouth!” Shaquille O’Neal claims he would’ve showed NO MERCY to Wilt Chamberlain

Shaquille O'Neal and Wilt Chamberlain (Credits: Los Angeles Times/ NBA.com)

Known as ‘The Big Dipper’ in the NBA, Wilt Chamberlain is a legend of the sport. He was the sole player to have scored 100 points. No player has ever achieved as much as Wilt has. However, NBA great Shaquille O’Neal has sparked controversy with a mythopoeic matchup with basketball great Wilt Chamberlain, stating that he will approach such a contest aggressively.

Shaq still has more NBA titles (four) under his belt than Wilt does (two). Throughout his career, Wilt averaged 46 minutes per game, while Shaq only had one season where he averaged 40. In an episode of “The Big Podcast with Shaq” presented by Playmaker HQ, O’Neal and Julius “Dr. J” Erving discussed what it would be like to play Chamberlain on the court in a hypothetical situation.

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When Doc Julius Erving was asked about Shaq vs. Wilt, The Big Deaseal interrupted and asked Doc J to answer this question by himself. Shaquille O’Neal said via The Big Podcast with Shaq,

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I would have bust Wilt's a**. Do you know why? Because I would have looked over and seen him playing with my idol. In the first play of the game, I am going to try to knock his motherfu***** teeth out his mouth.

In his answer to the conversation, Dr. J noted the differences between the two eras while emphasizing the enormous barrier O’Neal would have provided to Chamberlain. Erving underlined the joy of seeing such a spectacle and the historical significance of the never-happening match between the two titans of the game.

Shaquille O’Neal called himself the 3rd best center of all time after Kareem Abdul Jabbar

Although Shaquille O’Neal is considered by many to be one of the best centers of all time, opinions regarding how he compares to the greatest players in basketball history are divided. For example, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo startled the NBA world by ranking Shaq as the fifth-greatest center in history, behind players like Moses Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon. After learning of the rankings, O’Neal denied any rationale that placed him below third place among centers.

Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O’Neal (Credits: Sports Illustrated)

Shaquille O’Neal said via The Big Podcast, 

I disagree. However, Kareem? Yes, Wilt? Only because he has more points than me. That is the only thing that upsets me.

Although Shaq acknowledged that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was ahead of him on his ranking of the greatest centers of all time, he contended that Wilt was only ahead of him because he got more points than he did.

Shaq had shortcomings both on and off the court, making him far from a flawless player. However, O’Neal’s record as the greatest and most dominant player of all time is difficult to dispute following a stellar 19-year career; very few players have come close to equaling his history.

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