Shaquille OāNeal and Kobe Bryant dominated the NBA nearly at will during their tenure together. They made it to the NBA Finals four times, winning three rings and putting together some of the most memorable performances of all time.
Needless to say, they set the bar for modern basketball duos, just like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did before them; so itās only natural for people to compare them with todayās players.
Thatās why some Sixers fanshave gone as far as to say that Joel Embiid and James Harden isthe new version of Shaq and Kobe. Unsurprisingly, the Big Diesel isnāt exactly a fan of that comparison.
NBA News: Shaq Says People Need To Stop Comparing Harden-Embiid To Shaq-Kobe
āWe won three out of fourā¦ No. No. Hell, no,ā Shaq sentenced, per Essentially Sports.āNot after one year. Me and Kobe had eight years of damage together. No, not even close. Stop it. Listen, NO, H NO, and F NO.ā
Embiid Also Thinks Theyāre A Different Duo
When asked about it, Joel Embiid had quite a similar answer. For starters, not only are they just getting started but also, itās not like theyāre similar players to Kobe and Shaq by any means:
āIām Joel Embiid. I donāt play the way Shaq did, you know, dominant in other ways. Iām not physically dominant like he was,ā Embiid explained. āYou know, he was a freakin monster when he playedā¦ obviously Hall of Famer and one of the best ever. But Iām Joel Embiidā¦ I dominate in other ways on the basketball floor as far as doing everything. James does the same thing as far as being a scorer and a playmaker.ā
The Sixers have a chance to do something special here. But itās not like Harden is getting any younger, and itās not like theyāll dominate the league for 8 years. At the end of the day, thereās no need to compare.
