Shaq: Most Overrated Hoops Player Ever? Most Underrated Actor Ever?
- Saturday, August 15, 2009 3:56 PM
- Written By: Josh Bycel
In honor of Shaq's new show, "Shaq vs.", premiering on ABC, the network I currently work for (by the way, I'm so proud), I have decided to finally come out of the hoops closet and say:
Shaquille O'Neal is the most overrated player in the history of the NBA! Here's a new nickname for Shaq: "The Big Under Achiever." Take that, readers!
Now, before you come over to my virtual house (by that I mean SportsFan Live and not my real house, freaks) and start flogging my basketball knowledge, my hair and my laughable vertical leap, let me just say that I also believe Shaq may be the most underrated actor of his generation. How about this new nickname: "The Big Thespian"?
First, the hoops:
Okay, so yeah, the numbers are pretty damn good. Four championships. Second highest field goal percentage of all time. Averages of 24 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks a game. But think of what they could have been. His free throw percentage is a piss poor 52 percent. He has missed over 5,000 free throws! Do you realize if he had made even a fifth of those he would move up four spots on the all-time scoring list. His field goal percentage is good but let me remind you of something -- he's freakin' 7-feet tall and 350 pounds! The truth is he has never developed a dependable shot outside of five feet. Think about what Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing did late in their careers. They developed an outside game.
Shaq's rebounding totals are also misleading. Eleven a game? Wilt averaged 22. Shaq's not even in the top 25 all time. Charles Barkley averaged more rebounds a game than Shaq, and Barkley was seriously about 6-5...maybe. Also, Shaq's defense. He made the NBA All-Defensive second team twice. That's it. Let me refer back to my earlier argument -- he's freakin' 7-feet tall!
The truth is Shaq has always been on the lazy side. Never really working out. Almost always coming into camp out of shape. Never caring too much about the regular season. That is not what an all-time great does.
Now ... on too the fun stuff. Shaq the actor. "Blue Chips," "Steel," "Kazaam," "The Wash," seven million commercials ... Shaq was always pretty damn good. Yes, it was a mistake to make him the star of a movie. But, despite his Razzie Awards, Shaq was not the worst thing in any of those flicks. Trust me, I've seen worse from so-called professional actors. Come on ... Neon Boudreaux. Next to Penny Hardaway's log cabin worthy wooden performance and Nick Nolte's scenery chewing imitation of Bobby Knight, Shaq was Denzel Washington.
"Kazaam" was written and directed by Starsky (or Hutch, I'm not sure on that one) and in "Steel", Shaq had to act with Judd Nelson, so let's not blame him for everything. He held his own against Larry David in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and he has done a bunch of funny voice-over work in cartoons. Plus, let us never forget the era of Shaq Fu, the rapper. Actually, let's forget that.
But Shaq has saved his best performances for his teammates and the media. Shaq is such a good actor, he's actually convinced many people that getting run out of Orlando, Los Angeles, Miami and Phoenix was somebody else's fault. Penny Hardaway, Kobe, Phil Jackson, Stan Van Gundy, Pat Riley, the Phoenix system ... and on and on. Notice how NO ONE ever said they were sad to see him leave their team. Yeah, I know the whole Kobe thing. But what about good guys like Dwayne Wade and Steve Nash?
And Shaq continues to talk sh**&& about everyone from Dwight Howard to Kobe to Van Gundy, yet people always say Shaq is a awesome teammate and "great guy." Really? I just don't see it. I don't think Bill Russell would ask former teammate, who had just lost a heartbreaking final series, how his ass tasted?
Oh well. We will always have "Scary Movie 4".
