Picture: The Score
Shaquille O’Neal Rips Draymond Green: “I Would’ve Torn Your Ass Up On That Block”
The debate surrounding the greatest team of all-time is just one of the never-ending debates in basketball. Although the conversation remains hypothetical due to the difference in era, opponents and rules, it doesn’t prevent certain players from standing up for the team that they’ve been a part of — and Draymond Green and Shaquille O’Neal may know about a thing or two about that.
Green, who was the glue guy of the Golden State Warriors dynasty, has been very vocal about his opinions on basketball. It also doesn’t help that Green carries a reckless personality. Last month, the 2017 NBA Defensive Player of the Year made some controversial comments about the greatest team of all-time while blasting Shaquille O’Neal at the same time.
“We’re the greatest team ever. Me and Curry would’ve f****n’ destroyed Shaq in a pick-and-roll.”
The Warriors made the Finals in five consecutive years, winning three championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018, whilst running small-ball, and putting centers on an island and pick-and-rolls. But Shaquille O’Neal, who was arguably the most dominant player in his prime, isn’t buying any of Draymond’s comments.
In the podcast of the Big Diesel himself — ‘The Big Podcast With Shaq’, the four-time NBA champion responded to critique in a hard-nosed manner. While he said that he doesn’t want to get personal, he made sure the world knows that the Warriors wouldn’t even have been a factor during Shaq’s Los Angeles days.
“I like Draymond. I like guys that voice their opinion,” O’Neal said. “I try not to get personal with guys. I like him, I like the way he plays. You have to listen to his points. He made good, key points. He said in their era. He didn’t say in my era … In my era, [the Warriors] would have been the six or seven seed. You had us, you had San Antonio, you had the Utah Jazz, you had Portland, you had White Chocolate and C-Webb [in Sacramento].”
“But again, it’s his opinion. I try not to get personal with people’s opinions. But however, Mr. Draymond, like you said, I would’ve torn your ass up on that block.”
Draymond Green believes his pick-and-roll with Steph Curry would "destroy" Shaq.@SHAQ's response to @TermineRadio and @Jumpshot8 – "Stop it Mr. Draymond. You're too little, way too little. Cut it out" pic.twitter.com/RSFuvjUbyG
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) May 8, 2020
Draymond did make a valid point about taking advantage of the pick-and-roll. The Warriors have made a living by running big men off the floor with their decisive pace-and-space game. Having a player like Stephen Curry who can create off the dribble and shoot efficiently, makes their pick-and-roll game even more dangerous.
But just as Shaq said, he would’ve torn Draymond on the block. While the Warriors have an advantage on the perimeter, one of the determining factors is who’s stopping The Big Diesel inside the paint? The Warriors have always been a good defensive team in the league, but they just haven’t seen a big man on Shaq’s caliber. The closest one, though, would’ve been Anthony Davis whom they were hard-pressed stopping in two playoff series.
