Shaquille O’Neal likes to stir the pot, and if he can use as a spoon the man he once begrudgingly called “The Big Fundamental” — Tim Duncan — then all the better.
Shaq has been giving big flowers to Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic again this season, and the 2x NBA MVP is grateful and deserving of the Shaq-olades. (Shaq says Jokic is the “epitome of what a big man should look like.”)
But when Shaq compared Jokic to the Hall of Fame Spurs legend Duncan, fans largely resisted. As one wrote plainly: “Sorry Shaq, but NO.”
Shaq’s very formulation of the comparison failed the logic test, as Shaq called Jokic the “Tim Duncan of big men.” Laughing fans were quick to point out that, um, Tim Duncan is the Tim Duncan of big men. It’s really an indisputable fact.
Let a fan take make it plain: “Tim Duncan WAS a big man. In fact he was 6’11’ and Jolic is 6’10’. You can’t be the ‘Tim Duncan of big men’ when Tim Duncan was considered a big man!”
Related newsflash: Seattle Slew is not the Secretariat of thoroughbreds!
(Now if Shaq had said Jokic was the Allen Iverson or Steve Nash or Kyrie Irving of big men, that would pass the logic test. Those players aren’t big men!)
Also notable concerning the comparison: Duncan won five titles, was a defensive beast and hardly ever threw a tricky pass. Jokic has no titles (yet), is not a defensive beast (yet), and regularly mesmerizes fans and defenses with his passing chicanery. Comparison? Sorry Shaq but No!
Of course there is a take that fits perfectly with Shaq’s current job description and would also account for the Duncan comparison’s lightly thought out premise — as one fan writes: “Shaq just be saying stuff.”
