Draymond being Draymond, 2023-24
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
Yeah, Dray would have prevented Shaq from getting the ball, if he was lucky, 6 times max before heading to the bench after being disqualified due to his 6th and final foul. Beyond that, his affect on Shaq would have amounted to that of a pesky little fly.
I admire and respect the competitive nature of Draymond and others like him from this modern era. But they just don’t have the first damned clue how overwhelmingly dominant Shaq, Jordan, Duncan, and even prime Kobe really were.
I’ve been following the NFL, MLB, and NBA for roughly 47 years now. To me, the golden age of the NBA during all that time was from the late 80’s to around the early-to-mid 2000’s. Roughly a 15-year period of time. The vast majority of the greatest players of the past 50 years played during that time frame. Of course we know of the 1992 “Dream Team” which was right in the midst of it all.
While I fully recognize how much the rest of the world has improved, nobody will ever convince me that the 1992 squad transported in time to today would ever struggle to beat the any of these current day teams. They wouldn’t be winning by 40 or 50 every game, but they’d be winning handily. Because the depth of truly elite players at that time was larger. And these were players that really knew how to play the game on both ends, steeped in fundamentals dating back to their collegiate experiences.
Circling back to Shaq, who wasn’t even on that 1992 team, there hasn’t been a player like him since. And the player like him before him was Wilt Chamberlain which was a really really long while ago. Point is, these young kids just don’t have a reference point. They’ve never seen or experienced anything like it — which isn’t their fault.
I admire and respect the competitive nature of Draymond and others like him from this modern era. But they just don’t have the first damned clue how overwhelmingly dominant Shaq, Jordan, Duncan, and even prime Kobe really were.
I’ve been following the NFL, MLB, and NBA for roughly 47 years now. To me, the golden age of the NBA during all that time was from the late 80’s to around the early-to-mid 2000’s. Roughly a 15-year period of time. The vast majority of the greatest players of the past 50 years played during that time frame. Of course we know of the 1992 “Dream Team” which was right in the midst of it all.
While I fully recognize how much the rest of the world has improved, nobody will ever convince me that the 1992 squad transported in time to today would ever struggle to beat the any of these current day teams. They wouldn’t be winning by 40 or 50 every game, but they’d be winning handily. Because the depth of truly elite players at that time was larger. And these were players that really knew how to play the game on both ends, steeped in fundamentals dating back to their collegiate experiences.
Circling back to Shaq, who wasn’t even on that 1992 team, there hasn’t been a player like him since. And the player like him before him was Wilt Chamberlain which was a really really long while ago. Point is, these young kids just don’t have a reference point. They’ve never seen or experienced anything like it — which isn’t their fault.
Draymond in the clip is pretty reasonable, he acknowledges they'd need to double Shaq. And he makes a good point that Shaq would be vulnerable on the other side. Against a modern team, he wouldn't be able to save energy on defense by sheltering in the shade of the basket.
Shaq's individual scoring efficiency in the playoffs was great for its time, but these days that efficiency would be averaged by an entire team.
Code:
Shaq's Playoffs scoring efficiency on his championship teams
Season Age Tm TS% 3PAr FTr
1999-00 27 LAL .556 .000 .586
2000-01 28 LAL .564 .000 .581
2001-02 29 LAL .569 .000 .542
2005-06 33 MIA .571 .000 .625
