ESPN and the majority of mainstream media are “hot-take” machines. One such take by radio personality Chris Russo, also known as Mad Dog, had Stephen A. Smith and Jay Williams shaking their heads in disbelief.
In a segment when they talked about Shaquille O’Neal theoretically putting Stephen Curry in the GOAT conversation, Russo said something that Smith and Williams viewed as a mortal sin.
Russo: Shaq is what, the fifth-best center in the history of the NBA?
Smith and Williams: What?
Russo: What do you mean what?
Smith: Who’s the four ahead of Shaquille O’Neal? Have you lost your damn mind?
Russo: You want me to name them? Kareem, Wilt…
Smith and Williams: No.
Russo: Oh my God! You’re not gonna put Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged 50 points in one season?
Smith: Who is a foot taller than 99% of the league?
Williams: He’s the most dominant player in NBA history. Who’s stopping Shaquille O’Neal in any era?
Russo: Tim Duncan is better than he is. Olajuwon is better… He is not better than Moses Malone.
Smith: I like Moses Malone, he is great, but he’s not Shaq.
Russo: Malone led the league in rebounding for six consecutive years!
Smith: So what?
Stephen A. Smith, Jay Williams, and Chris Russo debating the four centers who were better than Shaquill O’Neal while on First Take
What made the whole interaction funny was Williams praying intelligibly in the background. As the guys were shouting at the top of their lungs in an impassioned debate, Russo put out one Moses Malone stat that solidified his argument: Malone averaged 22.3 points, 15.7 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks against the Boston Celtics in the 1981 NBA Finals.
That Boston team had prime Larry Bird and Robert Parish, with a young Kevin McHale coming off the bench. On the other hand, Malone had a ragtag team in Houston.
On top of that, Malone dominated the 1983 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 25.8 points, 18 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
In O’Neal’s case, Hakeem Olajuwon swept him in the 1995 NBA Finals. Plus, he won three titles playing against non-All-Star bigs in the Finals.
Do you agree with Russo that there are four centers better than O’Neal? Or was his dominance in his prime enough to put him at the top of the list?
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