re: SI's cover, 24 years ago today

damn, been working too much, threads die, and I end up resurrecting another dead thread. But I have to get my 2 cents in on one of the debates in this thread-
whether CJ was a better college player than Shaq.

I was on campus then, like a lot of others. Shaq was great, he was a lot like the more recent "Big Baby" phenomenon (good player, great personality), but exponentially bigger in all ways. Baby was 6'8" and a good big guy, Shaq was 7'1" and the dominant big guy in college.

CJ was another level entirely. Where Shaq was seen as maybe the next Kareem, CJ was the next Jordan- a dynamic, unstoppable scorer who just couldn't be guarded. Shaq was 1st team All American because of his size, CJ was college POTY despite his size, because of his skill.

It didn't translate, and decades later he isn't remembered the same. But at the time, CJ was far and away the better player.