re: Jay Bilas Melts Down after Shaq wins in the Vote vs. Lew Alcinder (Kareem) Vote Next Round

Everyone always uses Shaq’s free throw shooting as a reason he’s not in the same league as Kareem and Wilt, but I never see the same argument against Wilt.

Career FT %
Kareem .721
Shaq .527
Wilt .511

The whole thing is a joke (Maravich a 13 seed ) but the problem with these things is it's just a popularity contest and recency bias. Alcindor, Walton and Maravich are the 3 greatest college basketball players, you can argue over the order of those 3 but hard to argue for anyone over them. I love Shaq, i was at LSU when he was there but Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul Jabbar was a better player in college and the NBA.

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Can someone tell me why Allen Iverson is beating Pistol Pete?

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Pistol Pete's been dead 32 years and the people voting are stupid.

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How the hell is Pistol Pete a 13 seed? Also... He is losing to Allen Iverson

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Cause many of my generation who saw him play and remember him are not on The Rant!
If there would have been a 3 point line in his say he would have 5000 pts instead of 3667..

A- Shaq shot 63.8% from the FT line in college his Soph. year Kareem’s best was 65%. Shaq shot 58% for his career, Kareem shot 62% from the line in college lol.
B- if you ever actually watched Kareem he hit about 25-30% of the Sky Hooks he attempted. Most of his buckets came on dunks just like Shaq (NCAA outlawed the dunk because of Kareem) only Shaq had him by about 70lbs and was twice the athlete Kareem was.
C- using team success in college as your deciding factor means you also consider Bill Walton or any title winning player better than Shaq. Was Glen Rice better than Pistol Pete? You’ve disqualified your own argument.

You’re comparing Kareems legend to Shaq as a player not the actual players. One on one Shaq would dominate Kareem. The only player comparable to Shaq is Wilt but Shaq didn’t let a 6-8 guy dominate him every year the way Wilt did, it just wouldn’t happen.

How many 50yr old 7’2” people you comparing your info to.

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Really? Stanley Roberts was NOT an NBA lottery pick.

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Perhaps a tad hyperbole but he did go in the first round (23rd pick overall).

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Sidney Wicks

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Played one year with Alcindor while averaging 7.5 ppg. Not sure how he's factoring into your equation.

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John Vallely

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Yeah,...that's a name that immediately comes to mind when discussing great college basketball players. You forgot about Kenny Heitz and Lynn Shackelford

Final analysis:
PPG:
Alcindor 26.4
O'Neal 21.6

Total Rebounds:
Alcindor 15.5
O'Neal 13.5

National Championships:
Alcindor 3
O'Neal 0

Shaq would destroy Jabbar

Shaq weighed 286lbs as an incoming Freshman and was listed at 294lbs the summer before his final season at LSU. He was never close as small as 270 while Wilt at his biggest listing in the NBA was 275lbs and was consistently dominated by 6-8, 6-9 Bill Russell, (would’ve never happened to Shaq.) Once the lane was widened Wilts production was almost cut in half, scoring above 25ppg just once after 65-66, so much for the more gifted theory. Shaq would outclass Wilt in every way, Wilt was a poor mans Shaq.

I watched the 1963 NBA finals a few days ago-lakers/celtics. If you ever get a chance to see that on NBATV, imagine shaq playing in that game. Hell, he was incredibly quicker and more athletic than the great Bob "let me wind up and take 3.5 seconds to shoot my set shot" cousy.

As has been posted here, a 6-9 bill russell DOMINATED wilt, and wilt played against other "greats" like 6-2 wes unseld, and 6-3 Nate Thurmond, and also an array of 6-6 Eddie Haskell types with tape on their glasses. (From leave it to beaver fame). Oneal would have averaged whatever he wanted to against those dorks.