Although neither of them is currently in the NBA,Shaquille O Neal, andYao Mingare considered some of the two greatest centers in NBA history. While the majority of fans will have undoubtedly heard about Shaq, the same cannot be said about Yao Ming.
Since both of these players haven t competed in recent times, people might struggle to remember their abilities and skills. Especially Yao s since he is significantly underrated when compared to O Neal. With that being said, let us take a closer at how these two players matched up and their respective accomplishments.
Was Yao Ming as good as Shaquille O Neal?
Let’s be clear about one thing. There has been no other player in NBA history identical to Shaquille O Neal. He was able to release fear from the hearts of opponents with powerful post-up dunks that seemed near impossible to stop or even slow down. Shaq won the MVP award every single time during his three-peat with the Los Angeles Lakers. He even managed to win another ring towards the back end of hiscareerwith the Miami Heat.
On the contrary to Shaq who has 4 championship rings, Yao didn t manage to get a single title throughout his career with the Houston Rockets. A possible explanation for this is the fact that Ming was only able to play 8 seasons in the NBA. Injuries plagued his career, forcing him to retire after the age of 30.
Nonetheless, Yao managed to earn Shaq s respect in that window. After all, he was listed at 7 6 and had a full 5 inches over O Neal in terms of height. Therefore, he was certainly able to guard Shaq much better than most of the other players in the league at the time.
Throughout his 8-year NBA career in which he made the all-star team 5 times, Yao averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. On the other hand, Shaq averaged 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. This would lead us to believe that Shaq was significantly better.
He was in a manner of speaking. However, Ming was clearly better than Shaq when it came to shooting and was also much more efficient from the free-throw line. However, he wasn t even a better shot blocker given that he was 7 6. Yao averaged 1.9 blocks to Shaq s 2.3 blocks. Nonetheless, Yao Ming was one of the few players that Shaq respected and rightly so.
