A talking point that has been pushed through the recent years is comparing and contrasting different eras of NBA basketball. The favorite era of many people came in the 1990s and early 2000s, which was highlighted by Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal forming a dynamic duo with Kobe Bryant.
Specifically for O’Neal, the center position required rebounding, rim protection and being able to score in the post. He was able to do those things at an absurd level, making him one of the greatest big men ever.
Contrasting that to now, centers rarely score in the post and do not demand as much attention offensively. Spacing is prevalent more than ever as every player needs to be able to shoot the 3-point at a respectable clip.
For that reason, O’Neal believes NBA viewership is down due to an extreme emphasis on shooting 3-pointers, via The Big Podcast with Shaq:
“I have a theory that it’s down because we’re looking at the same thing. Everybody’s running in the same place with the damn top of the key dribble handoff. I was talking to a coach yesterday who said they want to shoot 50 3s. But you know they were trying to contemplate if I could play in this era and it’s like, ‘Yo Shaq, you know would shoot 50 3s.’ And I was like how much you want to make? You want to make about 10 or 15 of them. Well that’s not going to help you win, but I think everybody is looking at the same thing. And Steph Curry and those guys messed it up. Like, I don’t mind Golden State back in the day shooting 3s, but every team got a 3-point shooter. So why everybody has the same strategy? I think viewership will continue to go down unless we switch things back up.”
It is a touchy subject in terms of the enjoyability of watching basketball, but this is simply the new age of offense with teams running actions to get open 3-point shots.
O’Neal does make a compelling point and his statement is going to be worth monitoring as time passes. However, the 3-point shot is becoming more and more vital with each season and that likely will not change.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver also recently commented on the league’s viewership being down and he pointed to the recent election and World Series as opposed to the style of play.
Shaquille O’Neal details challenges for JJ Redick in his first season as head coach
Despite his playing days behind him, Shaquille O’Neal remains involved as an analyst for TNT. He remains involved in what is transpiring in today’s game and recently shared some potential challenges that Lakers head coach JJ Redick could face in his first season with the Lakers as a head coach.
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