Victor Wembanyama has officially arrived as one of the NBA’s brightest young stars after leading the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA Finals in just his third season. The 7’5″ big man is unlike any player the league has ever seen which has sometimes led to some scrutiny from bigs of a previous era, including Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal.
With his role as an analyst on ESPN’s Inside the NBA, O’Neal is often one of the loudest voices and he has never hesitated criticize players, particularly big men, when he feels necessary. But following Wembanyama’s outstanding performance in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, O’Neal felt the need to clarify some of his words he’s spoken towards the big man and gave him some advice on the physicality he is dealing with on a nightly basis.
“I think a lot of people, especially the world, get misconstrued when I’m talking about big men,” O’Neal said on Inside the NBA after the Spurs’ victory. “I don’t want you to be like me, I want you to have a certain mentality. The same mentality that I saw [Barkley] have. The same mentality that I saw Patrick Ewing have, that Draymond has. He came out with a lot of energy, a lot of effort. I seen it the last series. Whenever he’s higher in scoring and playing like that, the team plays well. That’s all I’m asking him to do. I’m not asking him to be me, I’m asking him to have that mentality because this is what it takes to win a championship.”
For as amazing a player as Wembanyama is, he simply doesn’t have the physical makeup to dominate in the way O’Neal did in his prime. But when O’Neal and others call for him to get in the paint more and not shoot as many jumpers, it can come off as wanting him to be more like a traditional center from previous eras, and Wembanyama is anything but traditional.
O’Neal’s clarification makes a lot of sense in that it is more about the mindset, energy and aggressiveness that can make such a difference. Wembanyama’s face-up game and shooting ability is what sets him apart and O’Neal isn’t asking for him to abandon that. But when he is in attack mode, it changes the energy of his teammates as well, and forces the opposition to re-think their strategy in going at him as well.
Victor Wembanyama becomes first player to accomplish NBA Finals feat since Shaquille O’Neal
Wembanyama and O’Neal may play completely differently, but they are both absolutely dominant forces, hence why the Spurs’ big man became the first player since peak O’Neal in 2001 with the Lakers to accomplish this feat in the NBA Finals.
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