As it turns out, retired four-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal is not a big fan of analytics. This is especially the case when this is taken in the context of big men in the league today.
According to O'Neal, analytics present a false notion:
“You ever heard of the term cooking the books? That's what [big-man analytics] are to me,” Shaquille O'Neal says, via Jackie MacMullan and Kirk Goldsberry of ESPN. “‘Oh, our company is doing great. We're doing this. And we're doing that,' when actually it's a bulls— company.
Obviously, Shaquille O'Neal does not think the numbers game is a great representation of the state of the big man in the NBA today. In his mind, it's not about the game focusing more on guards and forwards. O'Neal believes that it's just all about an absence of a really domineering big man:
“My contention is that if a big man comes in and wants to dominate, he can dominate — and easily. Because we have shifted away from physicality, teams don't know how to play [that style] anymore.
“If the right big man comes in, it'll be back like the old days, where he will be a guy you've got to change your defenses for.”
Shaq has been openly critical of players like Dwight Howard and Joel Embiid, among others, for not dominating more than he thinks they should down low. These latest statements play into his mindset that any big man should be able to wreak havoc in the post, even if the analytics say that's not the most efficient way to play.
Shaquille O'Neal was definitely dominant in the old days, which is a reason why he holds these views. As a matter of fact, he will go down in history as one of the most dominant big men this sport has ever seen. We've never seen anyone quite like him, and it may be a while before we see somebody like him again, especially considering just how much the game has changed.
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