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Par Guillaume Kagni | Journaliste sportif
In the history of the NBA, rarely, if ever, has a pivot been as dominant as Shaquille O’Neal. But the Lakers’ legendary interior was not infallible, as evidenced by a video that is currently causing a buzz on social networks.
Comfortably installed in his role as consultant for the “Inside The NBA” show, Shaquille O’Neal is often highly critical of current players. In fact, whenever he gets the chance, he likes to point out how dominant a pivot he used to be, and how much fun he’d have in a league he currently deems soft. But is it true?
Because, until proven otherwise, Diesel hasn’t finished champion in every season of his career. This just goes to show that there were ways of beating him and limiting his influence on both sides of the field. In fact, he was even defeated in one of the most surprising series in Finals history. In 2004, nobody gave the Pistons a chance against the Lakers, and yet…
Shaquille O’Neal’s level of defending challenged
Despite the Shaq/Kobe Bryant/Gary Payton/Karl Malone quartet, Los Angeles lost to Detroit in 5 games. Images of the penultimate game are currently making the rounds on social networks, and despite his 36 points and 20 rebounds, the pivot’s performance is questionable. His defensive efforts are likely to make lovers of circle protection sit up and take notice.
Pistons extend their NBA Finals series lead to 3-1 against the Lakers! (2004) pic.twitter.com/oZ56m2fR3u
— ThrowbackHoops (@ThrowbackHoops) June 10, 2025
It was a different era, of course, but to see Shaquille O’Neal so static and impotent in the racket is pretty crazy. He criticizes Rudy Gobert and his performances, claiming that the Frenchman doesn’t know how to defend out wide and at mid-distance, whereas he too, in his day, was exploited by fast, mobile point guards. On the Internet, the comments are not kind to the Diesel:
@WockstarEnt : Looking like Gobert
@isThatLondino : This why Kobe called him out
@b0y1da_ : All you had to do was pick and roll Shaq to death with a guard that can shoot and a roll threat. Shaq is not moving dawg lol
