Kevin Durant has a vision of Shaquille O’Neal playing in today’s NBA, and it sounds like excellent entertainment for everyone except the poor soul assigned to guard him.
More space. More shooters. More opportunities for the Big Fella to turn a basketball court into his personal buffet.
Shaq’s response? He would still like everyone to remember who ordered dinner.
During a recent appearance together on the Rushmore Podcast, Durant explained why he believes O’Neal would thrive in the modern game. With defenders stretched toward the perimeter, KD sees room for Shaq to do even more damage inside—and enough passing opportunities to make triple-doubles part of the conversation.
That is quite a compliment coming from someone who knows a thing or two about making defenses miserable.
Durant’s reasoning is easy to picture. Put reliable shooters around Shaq, and opponents face an unpleasant choice: leave a defender alone with him near the basket, or send help and risk an open shot somewhere else.
Neither option sounds especially restful.
For fans, the imaginary highlights practically create themselves. A deep catch. A defender reconsidering his career choices. A second defender arriving just in time to become part of the photograph.
Then, when the defense finally commits enough bodies to stop the dunk, Shaq finds an open teammate.
That is the appeal of Durant’s argument: the extra space could help Shaq create opportunities for everybody.
There is, however, one tiny complication with this beautiful basketball theory.
Shaq would like the ball.
“I want the ball all the time,” he said.
There it is. The entire offensive playbook, conveniently condensed into eight words.
O’Neal agreed with the idea that he could score more, but he was less convinced about the rebounding forecast and whether he would enjoy so much perimeter shooting. More room to operate sounds lovely. Watching everyone else launch jumpers while you establish position? Apparently, a tougher sell.
Honestly, it is a wonderfully Shaq response. KD is discussing the possibilities of modern offensive spacing. Shaq is making sure nobody mistakes him for an unusually large spectator.
The exchange also gave O’Neal a chance to stand up for the shooting around his own Lakers teams, pointing to Kobe Bryant, Rick Fox, Derek Fisher and Robert Horry.
Fair enough. Those names deserve a little respect before we start pretending the old highlight reels were filmed with five players standing under the rim.
The wider podcast episode featured O’Neal and Durant building all-time starting lineups alongside hosts Ari Emanuel and Ben Persky. In other words, exactly the kind of basketball conversation that can turn a quick hypothetical into an entire afternoon.
But this particular exchange works because both perspectives are so entertaining. Durant sees new possibilities for an already extraordinary player. Shaq hears about those possibilities and immediately checks how many touches come with the package.
Would modern Shaq collect triple-doubles? That remains a fantasy basketball discussion, rather than something anyone can prove.
Would he demand an enthusiastic commitment to feeding the post?
We feel considerably more confident about that one.
Give him the spacing. Give him the shooters. Just make sure the first pass goes to the Big Fella.