You don't remember prime Shaq and Hakeem. Prime Hakeem would be the MVP of the league right now.. crazy dominant on both sides of the ball. Embiid can only dream of being that good.
Bam had 31... Dallas gave up 14 offensive rebounds... teams that won were playing a lot of regular center types.
Neither guy has to play out of the post... they did so because that was the era... and even then those guys would bury teams in the post now. Part of the reason there aren't guys running that stuff is there are only a few good post players. Shaq would end up playing a little more like Giannis. Both guys can pass out of the post. Embiid if healthy is probably the best post player and Shaq/Hakeem are so much better than him as passers and Hakeem's fade away is better than anything Embiid has. Teams were also allowed to tackle players back then... those guys would live at the line... find all the open shooters when you double and score whenever they wanted in single coverage.
I think Hakeem would have found a way to be a 35mpg player. He had the skill, athleticism, ball handling, and frame to evolve. Shaq would have improved in some areas, but in others, he just wasn't built for this era. A guy like Barkley would be more dominant today than he was then. He was a complete enough player on both ends, and his strength/athleticism would have been showcased against small ball teams.
This is wild
I never said he wouldn't be able to play. I said he wouldn't dominate at the same level. He would be stretched out on defense and guys would flop at his every dominant move.
I watched Zion take dudes off the dribble with an array of moves that shaq never employed. Also saw Zion team win more games without him than with him. (Doesn't mean much since he is so young and his team has gotten better while he was hurt)
He would score a bunch. In an inefficient way. He would get hack a shaqed. He would get doubled. Guys would flop when he bullied his way to the hoop and he would get in foul trouble. He would get hunted on the perimeter defensively. The man he was guarding would be setting screens on the perimeter and shaq would have to defend a guy on the 3 point line. I know he was more mobile when he was young but he still wasn't as mobile as a wing player.
I think Embiid is that good. He's just been banged up pretty severely and has always had questionable teammates.
