Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most dominant forces in NBA history, especially during his prime with the Los Angeles Lakers, and left a lasting legacy on the game of basketball. Although he retired 14 years ago, O’Neal remained closely tied to the league as a television analyst—and recently, he shared his thoughts on how he would fare if he were playing today.
“Somebody asked me the other day what would I average. I would average 50,” O’Neal said confidently during a recent appearance on The Pivot Podcast. He then explained his reasoning: “The reason why I would average 50 is because I wouldn’t do what everybody else is doing.”
Expanding on his theory, Shaq imagined himself going up against some of today’s top stars—like Denver Nuggets‘ Nikola Jokic. “You shoot a three on me, Joker, you better make it because I’mma run by you, stand in the middle of the lane, and watch your whole team go, ‘Three seconds!’ Penny that (expletive) and throw it and I’mma dunk it,” said the four-time NBA champion.
Based on that style of play, O’Neal broke down how he would reach his scoring average: “I know for a fact I’ll make 15 twos before you make 10 threes. I’m getting 30. I’m getting 30 every night,” he began.
Shaquille O”Neal playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
“And then now, when you foul somebody, it’s a flagrant, so guys don’t really want to foul you hard… That’s another 10 points right there,” added the Lakers legend. “Then, I’mma concentrate on that (expletive) free throw, get that elbow, that’s 45 points right there.”
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What was Shaquille O’Neal’s peak scoring average?
For O’Neal to say he would average 50 points per game in today’s NBA suggests he views the modern game as significantly more favorable for scorers than it was 20 or 30 years ago. That’s clear when comparing his projection to the stats from his own playing career—where he never came close to averaging that number.
O’Neal’s highest-scoring season came in 1999–2000, when he was named MVP, Finals MVP, scoring champion, and led the Los Angeles Lakers to a championship. That year, he averaged 29.7 points per game in the regular season and 30.7 in the playoffs—both career highs.
Shaq would need to improve his free-throw shooting
Despite his dominance, one of the biggest weaknesses in Shaquille O’Neal’s game was his free-throw shooting. This led opposing teams to adopt the now-famous “Hack-a-Shaq” strategy—intentionally fouling him to force trips to the line and betting on his inaccuracy.
Part of O’Neal’s 50-point-per-game projection hinges on capitalizing at the free-throw line. But to do so, he’d need massive improvement in that area. Over the course of his career, he shot just 52% from the stripe. That’s a far cry from the standards set by today’s scoring leaders, such as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who shot 89% from the line this season.
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