We know it well… our man Shaq has never been short on confidence — and at 53 years old, long removed from the grind of NBA life, that hasn’t changed one bit. Retired, thriving as a businessman, DJ, and media powerhouse, Shaq still knows exactly who he was at his peak. Shout out to our friends at Fox 26 Houston for info on this story.
And according to him, today’s NBA wouldn’t stand a chance.
At full speed, prime Shaq was a nightmare wrapped in 300 pounds of unstoppable force. He didn’t rely on flashy crossovers or finesse-heavy footwork. His game was brutally simple: get the ball, move toward the rim, and finish through whoever was unlucky enough to be in the way.
In a recent interview with FOX 26’s Jade Flury, O’Neal confidently declared that his dominance would translate perfectly to the modern game — and possibly be even more profitable.
“I’d be making $700 million a year, for real,” Shaq said with a grin. “Playing with these cupcakes.”
While some might laugh at the number, the confidence behind it isn’t hard to understand. Shaq played in an era loaded with elite centers — Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing — and still imposed his will. In today’s spacing-heavy NBA, where true bruising big men are rare, O’Neal believes the advantage would tilt even further in his favor.
Pressed on how he’d succeed against today’s more sophisticated defensive schemes, Shaq’s answer was refreshingly on brand.
“I’m going to be me.”
Standing over seven feet tall and weighing more than most defensive fronts, Shaq was a physical anomaly. It didn’t matter who guarded him. Single coverage was a disaster. Double teams came too late. Triple teams opened up shooters. And once he caught the ball deep in the paint, the outcome was usually predetermined.
Shaq also pointed out that the modern obsession with three-point shooting would actually help him.
“You got big guys shooting threes — that’s to my advantage,” he explained. “As soon as you shoot the three, I’m closer to my end. I don’t have to run as far. I’m running right down the middle of the lane asking for the ball.”
And when defenders inevitably panic?
“You and your whole team going to be crying, ‘Three seconds! Three seconds!’”
The strategy, according to Shaq, would be simple. If teams double him, he kicks it out. If they triple him, he finds shooters. And if no help comes, it’s another dunk — the kind that demoralizes a defense and silences an arena.
“If y’all try to double, triple, I’m going to kick it to my man Kobe. Big Shot Bob,” Shaq said. “We going to win championship after championship.”
His final message summed it up perfectly.
“I’m not going to do what they do,” Shaq said. “They’re going to have to do what I do.”
While there’s no way to truly test how Shaq would fare in today’s NBA, imagining it is half the fun. And given how dominant he was when healthy and locked in, it’s hard to dismiss the idea entirely.
After all, dominance never goes out of style.