I do believe that they were all better than him, but they had advantages he did not. It starts with him inspiring them and giving them (or basketball) the blueprint. No Mikan, then probably none of the dominant big men after him.
That all-time Lakers roster right there, is why the rest of the NBA and the other fan-bases hate us. It's because we're so spoiled and it's not even funny. What is so uncanny about that list is that from the Center position down to Lebron at SF, these are players who left their old teams to join this franchise, and the rest from Elgin down to the PGs, all Lakers-bred.
And yet other team's fans insist: "Lakers fans are delusional thinking they are going to end up getting _______".
I know 1995 Hakeem took Shaq to school, but how would 2000/2001 Shaq have done against prime Hakeem I wonder? Btw, my top 5 center list is 1a KAJ 1b Wilt 2a Shaq 2b Hakeem 3 Russell
Hakeem is a bit like AD is I can see him fit into any era of basketball because he can defend bigs while also having quick feet and be a strong rim protector. Shaq would be fascinating in the modern era as he would feast against these small teams but man those GSW and Cavs team would have put him into all sorts of PnR to get wide open 3's. Hakeem because of his versatility is maybe the most "underrated" greats of all time. I mean he's the only center who can claim to have beaten KAJ, the Admiral, Ewing, and Shaq in the playoffs. That is one hell of a resume
Shaq would work in this era. However he would have to be in tip top shape. There is no way he could take months off. Shaq's pick and roll defense was always poor. It would be exposed even more in this era. However, there is also no way teams like the Rockets and GSW would be able to get away with playing Draymond and Tucker at the C against Shaq. Shaq would score 2 points every time he got the ball in the post.
Interesting tidbit. Since the NBA started in 1946-47, the Lakers, Yankees and C Bags are tied 17 all in world titles. You also have to factor in MLB didn't start playing black players until that year as well. Competition before 1947 can be marginalized because you didn't really have the best of the best playing in the Majors up until then. The race to 18, post segregation in the MLB. Let's go......
Yep. He'd have to be in 2000 season shape. But he'd still be a dominant force. No one would stop Shaq today. Then add a couple shooters around him when he commanded triple teams, he was a decent enough passer to hit open men. He essentially take all the post touches AD has and score on 75% of them. He wouldn't be able to step out like AD, but he'd average 30 points on 65% shooting.
