O’Neal, who retired in 2011, insists he would flourish if he was playing in this era.
“If I played today, I’d average 50, without free throws,” O’Neal said.
“I’d average 50, because guys don’t play physical.
“They whine and they cry; I’m going to punish everybody.”
Some argue in the modern game big men are required to be versatile enough to guard multiple positions. However, the NBA Hall of Famer doesn’t think the game is different now – even though O’Neal agrees the league has more shooting jumpers than before.
“A lot of people say, ‘Oh, well, it’s a different game.’ No,” O’Neal said.
“When people are doing things different, that’s when you’ve got to do something different. OK, everybody is shooting jumpers. Fine, but I make my money on the inside.
“A lot of people don’t understand it takes legs and strength to shoot the jumpers. A lot of people will try to shoot jumpers for three quarters against me.
“In the fourth quarter, banging up against me all the time, it won’t work. And then I would always have that physicality.”
The 46-year-old former center does not think big men should be shooting threes and instead should be making their living inside the paint.
“First of all, if I came up in this era, I wouldn’t shoot threes,” the three-time NBA Final MVP said.
“That’s not what a big guy is supposed to do.
“All these guys talking about shooting jump shots, you’re going to have to defend me. And you can’t defend me with three or four fouls. I’m just going to punish you.”
O’Neal, who was the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft, played for 19 years in the league and claims shot jumpers didn’t cause him a problem in his career.
He added: “I haven’t really lost to a lot of guys that shot jumpers in my face, but I beat everybody by playing low.
“So I would definitely average 40. Easily.”
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