Could Shaq win a title if he stayed the same size like when he was with the Orlando Magic?

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I know he had to get bigger when he went to the Lakers going against all the big men in the western division.

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I'm a big fan of Shaq, but that was never really true. He just wasn't tremendously committed to diet and exercise.

You could see him fluctuate when he returned from injuries. I like the guy a lot, but he was never super committed to staying in great shape.

If he'd hung around 300 for his whole career, he'd have had another 3-4 years on his prime, IMO. He already was productive for a pretty damn long time for a 7 footer, though.

If shaq had that Kobe/Jordan drive to be the best he would have clearly been the best basketball player ever easily. I still would take shaq at his peek over anyone else at their peak.

LINK
I found this article talking about it and he brought this up.

It was after the Lakers' first championship that Shaq made a decision that had immediate rewards but proved to be a long-range disaster. Feeling that massive centers like Arvydas Sabonis and Luc Longley were pushing him around in the low post, Shaq felt that he needed to be heavier. In his equation, mass equaled power equaled total domination. He therefore instructed his personal chef to overload his meals with meat and potatoes and the pounds quickly began to accumulate.

I was fortunate to see him his last year at LSU. It would have been awesome to see that version of Shaq along side Kobe during those years.

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It was after the Lakers' first championship that Shaq made a decision that had immediate rewards but proved to be a long-range disaster.

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I know Shaq claims this, but look at how he looked in that first championship season where he claims he was too light.



Here he is as a rookie. You can already see he's added a fair amount of weight.



Shaq was just never that committed to pushing himself to stay in shape.

Offense was the lesser of his talents but the body change completely inverted his natural gifts. Nobody could rebound or block shots like that guy and of all the great centers he’s last in those categories.

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I wish people would’ve got to see what we saw at LSU athletically from Shaq. If hedve kept that body type we’re likely having an entirely different GOAT argument among NBA greats.

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Yeah, some of the plays he made at LSU didn't seem possible for someone his size. His max vertical reach from a standing position in college was recorded at 12'5" Basically he could almost touch the top of the backboard from a standing position at 300 pounds. Insane. (That feat has only been surpassed by one inch by one person, Dwight Howard)

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If shaq had that Kobe/Jordan drive to be the best he would have clearly been the best basketball player ever easily.

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Kind of a bull shite argument and definitely from the stand point of Kobe.

Shaq was absolutely dominant all the time. He was not the reason his team didn’t win more. Shaq is probably up there with best contributions in losing efforts. Kind of funny Kobe wanted to kick him out of LA when Shaq wasn’t the problem.

Shaq’s Final Series Stats in Each Playoffs

1994 NBA Eastern Conference First Round (Eliminated)
20.7 ppg/13.3 rpg/2.3 apg/3.0 bpg/0.511 FG%

1995 NBA Finals (Eliminated)
28.0 ppg/12.5 rpg/6.3 apg/2.5 bpg/0.595 FG%

1996 Eastern Conference Finals (Eliminated)
27.0 ppg/10.8 rpg/4.0 apg/1.5 bpg/0.640 FG%

1997 Western Conference SemiFinals (Eliminated)
22.0 ppg/11.6 rpg/3.2 apg/2.0 bpg/0.494 FG%

1998 Western Conference Finals (Eliminated)
31.3 ppg/9.8 rpg/0.5 apg/1.8 bpg/0.493 FG%

1999 Western Conference SemiFinals (Eliminated)
23.8 ppg/13.0 rpg/0.5 apg/1.8 bpg/0.493 FG%

2000 NBA Finals (Champions)
38.0 ppg/16.7 rpg/2.3 apg/2.7 bpg/0.611 FG%

2001 NBA Finals (Champions)
33.0 ppg/15.8 rpg/4.8 apg/3.4 bpg/0.573 FG%

2002 NBA Finals (Champions)
36.3 ppg/12.3 rpg/3.8 apg/2.8 bpg/0.595 FG%

2003 Western Conference SemiFinals (Eliminated)
25.3 ppg/14.3 rpg/3.7 apg/2.8 bpg/0.559 FG%

2004 NBA Finals (Eliminated)
26.6 ppg/10.8 rpg/1.6 apg/0.6 bpg/0.631 FG%

2005 Eastern Conference Finals (Eliminated)
20.6 ppg/7.6 rpg/1.7 apg/2.0 bpg/0.592 FG%

2006 NBA Finals (Champions)
13.7 ppg/10.2 rpg/2.8 apg/0.8 bpg/0.607 FG%

2006 was when his minutes fell to 30 mpg or below