Shaquille O’Neal didn’t hold back when it comes to talking about today’s NBA stars. In an interview with Complex, the 50-year-old NBA legend was asked about how the game has changed over the years. Kameron Hay of Complex asked O’Neal about how the game is currently being played “outside-in” instead of “inside-out” like it was when he was in the league.
“Yep, inside-out,” O’Neal said. “Most of these big guys they have now are powder puffs. They want to shoot jumpers.” When O’Neal was playing, having a big man who can dominate in the paint is one of the keys to winning the championship. But what we have seen with the Golden State Warriors over the last eight years is shooting successfully at a high rate can lead to multiple titles.
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“So if you look at a guy like Steph Curry, who wasn’t a high draft pick, who wasn’t really talked about when he first got drafted and everybody was like ‘he’ll never make it.’ And then a guy like Mark Jackson saw something to say ‘you and Klay [Thompson] you shoot it every time you touch it,” O’Neal added. “You guys are going to be the greatest backcourt ever.’ And then they rolled with that, and Steve Kerr added that championship flavor in the mix. Then you got a guy like Draymond who is a Dennis Rodman type player, and they were able to win, they were able to win big. They actually changed the league, now you have teams playing like they play. Guys who can’t even shoot at all, now they’re out there shooting 3-pointers.”
O’Neal made these comments before the Warriors won their fourth NBA title in eight years. Curry’s success beyond the arc has played a big part in the team winning multiple titles as he’s arguably the best three-point shooter in NBA history. He holds the all-time NBA record for three-pointers made and has a career three-point percentage mark of .428. And along with his four titles, Curry was named NBA Finals MVP this year, has won the NBA MVP award twice and has been selected to the All-NBA team seven times.
