Shaq: LeBron James Not a ‘Scientific Dawg’ Like Kobe Bryant

Whoa whoa whoa… WHOA… hold up….
“Kobe, on the other hand, loves basketball first, his wife second, his daughters, and then everything else is optional or not a necessity.”
Yeah, he is forever faithful to his wife. Can’t believe people just let that one pass.
Kobe was one of the most athletically gifted players in the NBA. Just because he isn’t a Lebron James or a Vince Carter, doesn’t mean he was a Chauncy Billups. Kobe was super explosive, super quick, had ups for DAYS and was deceptively powerful. Don’t let his superior skill fool you.

cosign jukai.. maybe I’m tripping but I think back in the day kobe was just a step or two down from vince carter in terms of athleticism.. probably on about tracy mcgrady or penny hardaway’s level

cosign Jukai and them saying Kobe was athletically gifted. Any cat who wins the nba dunk contest is a beast athletically. Shaq is just lazy yo, the dude has lost a lot of my respect recently.

As good as Shaq thinks he was, he should have been carrying teams like Hakeem and Ewing.
Did you ever take a chance to look at the rosters those two cats were carrying to the playoffs and Finals?
Man, Shaq has been blessed with EXCEPTIONAL talent.
The funny thing is, I argued this point from almost the exact opposite position recently when debating with somebody about whether Kobe was better than Shaq. It’s not that I think Shaq was a bum, he wasn’t. But I also think that he didn’t have great success against the top players at his position.

Actually Shaq lost twice in the finals (vs Hou and Det).
AllenP, I have to disagree with you on Shaq’s rookie season being his best overall. The guy avg. 29ppg on damn near 60% shooting during his 2nd and 3rd seasons. He also avg. 29/13/3 in ’00 with the lakers.
Regardless of whether or not Shaq was lazy, the guy in his prime was the most dominant force the League has seen since Wilt and when you are comparable to someone of Wilt’s stature, you’re a bad motherf*cker.

His best Rebounding season and (i think) Blocking season was in his rookei year, had dude worked at his game(like EVERYONE COMMENTING before me has already said) and not been lazy, he cuda easily been the greatest center ever.

To the person who suggested that the Glide was an athletic superior to MJ, i tend to agree. Especially in their respective primes. Drexler was always my fav. Player back tgen, to the point that i was rocking Portland gear in Europe while everyone around me was a Bullsanatic.
MJ could cut better laterally (he seemed lighter than Clyde) and he had amazing body control, mid-air or on the floor, but Drexler was a damn racehorse and so fluid.
When they finally met in the Bulls 2nd finals appearance, i was unhappy with how passive Clyde played, especially since the Blazers had already lost a finals to Detroit a few years back.
PJ’s defensive gameplan, MJ shooting the lights out in gm one, a super active Pippen and Porter, Robinson and Kersey’s tendency to look off him on offence drove me insane.
Was so glad he got that title with Hakeem, nearly as ecstatic as i was when Dirk got his in June.
Damn you lockout.

@Jukai – I was jokingly speculating that Kobe’s focus is on basketball to the point that family would come second to him. It was a supposed to be a quip at Kobe’s basketball nerdiness, not something to be taken seriously. I realize that Kobe wasn’t a bum athletically, and that he was more athletically gifted than a lot of other players his height. My point was that, among the 3 superstars (Lebron, Shaq, Kobe), Bryant is the *least* genetically gifted, even though his athleticism was off the charts. At no point since he has been in the league has there been a consensus understanding that “Kobe is the most physically gifted player in the league”, unlike how it has been said for Shaq and Lebron. Kobe is gifted athletically, but he isn’t THE guy you point to when you talk about a “physical specimen”. Guys like Howard, Lebron, David Robinson, Shaq, fall into that category.

If I had to pick one center from history for my team for a single game, I would choose 2001 Shaq (playoff version). No question. 30/15/2.4 blocks per game (not to mention his numerous 40/20 games) is nothing to sneeze at. He made Robinson (and Duncan, who guarded him during that series in certain stretches) look pedestrian. Shaq DID face decreased competition from centers during his prime, but the Western Conference was loaded during the 2000s with Duncan/KG/Kings/Blazers, all of whom had very formidable teams.

Who’s higher on the all time list so far, Clyde Drexler or Dwyane Wade?

the skill disparity as it relates to athleticism is evident on EVERY level, and it starts at the bottom. the shortest and quickest guys are trained to be POINT GUARDS, and the bigger kids are TRAINED to work on Mikan drills, rebounding, and work with their backs to the basket. That’s why the emergence of guys like Hakeem, Rasheed, KG, Magic, Dirk is seen as such an anomaly. Lebron falls into that anomaly category too because you expect someone of his size to be more of a bruiser, which he is than someone with a more refined skill set. It shouldn’t be that way though. The way the game is being taught is evolving, and we’re finally accepting some of the practices of guys like MJ and Kobe who truly are complete players. I mentioned very few names, but there are many other guys who do work their asses off and have skill sets that approach complete player levels.

No guard in history has ever blocked as many shots as Wade in a season.

Wooooow @Allenp Really!? What did Shaq do to improve his game? Yeah his fitness sometimes lacked but don’t make the mistake that many make and think he was simply a huge body. He had quality foot work, a variety of shots and had super-human type strength. Non of these things come without work no? People love to think of Shaq as either just a brute or the best of a bad bunch of big men, both opinions are totally baseless. P.S. Very good point @SIKHWITIT and also possibly the best name on the site lol.

ONE LAST THING….Kobe only won rings with good big men, Shaq/Pau……Shaq only won chips with great guards kobe/wade….Timmy D only won chips with with Robinson/Manu……Same for Magic, Bird etc etc etc….Michael (weather people like to remember it or not!) only won chips when he picked up one of the most versatile players ever and a star in his own right Pip and a truly great and unique defensive player, Rodman.
P.s. they all had great coaches!

The lesson NOBODY WINS A CHIP ALONE. NOBODY. I’M SO TIRED OF HEARING THIS STUFF ABOUT ‘x only won because of y and z’

Why is Shaq kissing @$$ now? Shaq in lakers championship runs was 30+pts, 20+rebounds. Kobe was a bench player finally getting to start games. With shaq demanding double/triple teams any SG would of made kobes shots. Kobe was not the determining factor in those title runs. Just like he wasn’t in 2009 or 2010 championships. If shooting the ball whenever it touches your hands is having a killer instinct then kobes got it alright. LeBron went to the Heat and yeah he thought he didn’t have to take control like he did in cleveland and with wade, bosh he shouldn’t have. That’s a mistake he made and I’ll bet he wont make it again. Wade has been in Miami his entire career so it should of been wade taking last shots, leading the team not LeBron or bosh. The Heat are going to surpass expectations before their done.

philosophising’ like a mo of. . I think Bron is just as Scienific DAWG !

Shaq whatever his achievements, which are great, is a prick unfortunately. I like him but he should shut up. Not enough efforts during his career despite his greatness and achievements. Too much stubbornness, selfishness and onanism. (i Look good, I am great I want to fck myself, Kazaam is a great movie…) He likes to jerk off stating he is the best whatever the opposition (Kobe, Wilt, Kareem, Jordan and co.). But he lacks humility and so is condemned to look/sound like a witty/funny but pathetic brainy guy.

Shaq has charisma
but has no clue how to properly use it.
You are not great unless you feel compelled to proclaim it every time you can.
He should talk to Grant Hill to get some insight, even if Shaq’s career is 10 times more impressive …
Barkley is in the same bag. Witty guy, Witty guy. But he should try to listen to himself. He would probably feel clever and stupid at the same time.

Shaq had an amazing fadeaway-hook and tremendous footwork, so he still could score even when opponents kept him a couple feet from the basket (unlike Dwight Howard who is just… dunks). Not Hakeem-like of course, but combined with his brute force, it made him unstoppable in his days.