Shaquille O'Neal, in his arrogance, once claimed Bill Russell couldn’t defend him thanks to a 120lb weight difference - “Too light”
Shaquille O'Neal is widely regarded as the most dominant big man of all-time. However, when going up against arguably the best defensive center to play the game, Shaq had to share his thoughts on going head-to-head against Bill Russell.
Shaquille O'Neal has made a name for himself with his larger-than-life personality, which very clearly translated into the way he played basketball as well. As gifted and skilled as he was, O'Neal was simply too powerful for most players in the league.
At 7-foot-1 and nearly 330lbs, Shaq was a literal force of nature. Pairing this with his ability to run the floor and throw it down on anyone, in his prime, he was virtually unstoppable.
Needless to say, "Diesel" was well-aware of his impact on the floor. During the LA Lakers' playoff series against the Sacramento Kings in 2001, LA were tearing through the Kings. In particular, Shaq notched an average of 33.3 points and 17.3 rebounds as the Lakers went to sweep Sacramento.
However, after the first two wins, Shaq, in his arrogance had an interesting statement to make regarding Boston Celtics legend, Bill Russell. O'Neal, who considered Russell to be the best defensive center, said he would easily take on the Celtics legend as per Sports Illustrated's Phil Taylor.
In an article back in 2001, Taylor wrote about O'Neal's comments and said:
"O'Neal declared before Game 3 that he considered Hall of Famer Bill Russell, the greatest defensive player in NBA history, "too light" to have had much luck guarding him. Since Russell played at about 220 pounds, about 120 pounds below O'Neal's weight, no one argued with him, least of all Divac and Pollard, who didn't put up much resistance either."
Shaq went on to dominate the rest of the way in the playoffs. As history would have it, he'd continue to dominate in the following season as well.
May 8, 2001: Shaquille O'Neal slam dunks the lob pass from Rick Fox during Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
O'Neal had 43 PTS/20 REB/3 BLK (following a 44/21/7 performance in Game 1) as the Lakers took a 2-0 series lead with a 96-90 win over the Sacramento Kings. https://t.co/VwdafqMw44
How would a match-up between Shaquille O'Neal and Bill Russell play out?
It is important to note that Bill Russell's greatness lay in his grit. His leadership on the floor and overall impact with the Celtics was borne in his unwillingness to give up. This tenacity manifested itself in his defensive work as he simply hounded his assignments and destroyed them mentally.
However, it is very difficult to deny Shaquille O'Neal's claim. With over 120 lbs separating the two big men, Shaq enjoys a very clear physical advantage. With roughly four inches of differences in height as well, O'Neal would very clearly be viewed as the dominant figure, on paper at least.
A match-up between the two would certainly be interesting. However, while taking into consideration Russell's fairly rudimentary offense owing to the era he played in, Shaq would likely have his way in the overall scheme of things.
Bill Russell points at Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O'Neal, David Robinson and Dikembe Mutombo and says "I would kick your ass"
LEGEND https://t.co/wlyXf5CSal