Tacko Fall and Grant Williams debate Shaq’s fit in the modern NBA

Co-hosts of the Grant and Tacko show, Boston Celtics big men Fall and Williams debate Shaquille O’Neal’s role in the modern NBA.

Boston Celtics big men Tacko Fall share both a podcast and a frontcourt rotation, so the topic of conversation being focused on the positions they play isn’t exactly unusual.

But after much debate on the role of the big man in the modern NBA in a recent episode of the Grant and Tacko Show, attention turned to how legends of the past might fare in the contemporary iteration of the league.

There are few more dominant — if any — big men in the post than former Celtic Shaquille O’Neal, and evidently Tacko Fall had caught wind of a debate on how that mountain of a man might do in a league that treat post play like underhanded free throws.

“Okay,” said the Celtics two way center, “so what do you think about people saying Shaq wouldn’t be able to play in this era?”

The query was met with incredulity from both Williams and podcast producers Jared Weiss, with both wondering where the debate was coming from.

“I’ve seen it on social media,” related the Senegalese big man, “I’ve seen some people say it … I don’t like to curse, but that’s stupidest thing I’ve heard.”

Williams, an astute history of the game, interjected.

“It depends on which Shaq you’re talking about. If you’re talking about Lakers Shaq, about Orlando Shaq — he could play in this league easily,” emphasized the Tennessee product.

“If you’re talking about Celtics Shaq, Cavaliers Shaq …” Williams trailed off, eluding more than an implied aspersion on the tail end of the Boston alumnus’ career.

“That’s the end of his career, you can’t talk about that,” Fall agreed.

In his prime, the LSU product was arguably the best player in the NBA. Shaq was scoring nearly 30 points per game near his peak, and pulling down over 10 boards per game throughout his mid- to late twenties.

An unstoppable force in the paint in that era, how would he fit today?

“How the game is being played right now, Shaq would just kill people,” claimed Fall, alluding to the dearth of brawny big men who used to dominate the NBA for many years, abandoned in favor of switchier bigs able to move their feet, defend the perimeter and shoot.

“For one, I think Shaq would be way more of a pick-and-roll guy,” suggested Weiss. “I thought that about Dwight Howard; he started to be a pick-and-roll guy, [he] destroyed the league [with it], but then he stopped after that because he didn’t feel like it.”

“Young Shaq — Orlando Shaq — was playing kind of like that,” countered Williams. “He was running up and down the court. He was light.”

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It’s hard to imagine a svelte O’Neal unless you’re of a certain age, but the big man’s first few seasons in the NBA were exactly like that — much more rapid and mobile, and a thin-but muscular frame.

“He was athletic, dunking on guys … they were a transition team,” the Charlotte native continued.

“In the Lakers, he was a post player — they still were playing kind of similar, but the triangle. He was having the ball in his hands. So, it’s kind of like how times change. Dwight Howard went from being Superman, then he wanted to start playing with his back to the basket, shooting right-hand hooks, left-hand hooks — and now he’s back to being Superman.”

There’s more than a kernel of truth here.

To imply that Shaquille O’Neal — one of the greatest big men to play the game — was somehow an unskilled oaf just because he turned his style of play towards that which was most used in his era is insulting, and not only to O’Neal.

While not that far removed from when being 6-foot-10 or taller with some rudimentary skills might get you on a team as a third-string big, we’re discussing a first-ballot Hall of Famer — it seems silly to suggest a player as great as Shaq wouldn’t have adapted his game.

The trio continue discussing the fit of past frontcourt greats including some interesting comparisons to modern players, as well as some experimentation of Tacko Fall himself to expand his skillset to better fit the modern game, but you’ll have to listen for yourself to get the details.

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