“We had to work hard…” Shaquille O’Neal shuts down ‘Phenomenal’ claims for Chet Holmgren in big man debate

Shaquille O'Neal wants the media to stop throwing names such as 'Phenomenal' to young big men.

“We had to work hard…” Shaquille O’Neal shuts down ‘Phenomenal’ claims for Chet Holmgren in big man debate

Shaquille O'Neal does not agree with Lefkoe that Chet Holmgren is phenomenal, thinks he is promising, nothing more (image via Twitter)

Retired star Shaquille O’Neal is the most dominant big man ever to play the game of basketball. That is the universal truth that nobody argues about. So when the topic of big men like Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama came up, his opinion made a lot of sense.

O’Neal spoke on his podcast, The Big Podcast with Shaq, with co-host Adam Lefkoe. Miami Heat legend Udonis Haslem was a guest on the show. When the topic of big men in today’s game came up, Lefkoe claimed Oklahoma City Thunder star Chet Holmgren was phenomenal. To this, O’Neal stopped Lefkoe and reacted:

Don't do that, y'all throwing around words that we (him and Haslem) had to work hard for. Phenomenal’s not the right word…He’s good, but don’t be going ‘promising’ and ‘great’ and ‘future Hall of Famer.
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O’Neal did not believe it was right to give players such high praise-worthy names unless they had put in their work for years. He believed such claims were given to players nowadays very quickly. They have not proved anything in their short time in the league.

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Chet Holmgren is playing in his first year in the league. From the small sample size of 30 games, Holmgren has averaged 17.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.7 blocks. Fellow rookie big-man French sensation Victor Wembanyama is doing slightly better than Holmgren. O’Neal believed it took years to get such names alongside their name. Not 30 games.

O’Neal also cannot see the impact of the new-gen big men on the game. Opposing teams lost most of their big men to foul trouble going up against O’Neal. They had to draw up game plans, specifically keeping O’Neal in mind.

Shaquille O’Neal wants to see the new big men dominate

Shaquille O’Neal earned the ‘most dominant’ tag after playing 19 seasons in the NBA. The way he played was literally the definition of domination in a game. His height, weight, strength, and ability to locate and finish the basket at a high percentage are reasons he is known as the most dominant ever.

Udonis Haslem believes Shaquille O'Neal would dominate today's big men
Udonis Haslem believes Shaquille O’Neal would dominate today’s big men (image via Twitter)

O’Neal averaged 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 3.5 blocks per game during his rookie season. Those were days against other Hall of Fame big men such as Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, and David Robinson.

Holmgren’s rookie season production is a far cry from what O’Neal had. So, to give him high praise without seeing that elite-level play, O’Neal could not consider these big men as ‘phenomenal.’

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