"Shaq would do whatever he wanted to": Jamal Crawford contrasts Victor Wembanyama and Shaquille O'Neal's skillsets in the modern NBA

Shaquille O'Neal is widely considered to be one of the greatest big men ever. As a rookie, and through much of the first half of his career, O'Neal possessed a unique blend of size and athleticism unlike anything the league had ever seen.

With his massive hulking frame and the rare ability to push the break, O'Neal quickly became one of the most feared players in the league. He broke backboards, posterized defenders and talked plenty of trash while doing so.

Now, with Victor Wembanyama poised to both dominate the league and change how the game is played, many are attempting to draw comparisons. Not necessarily in the play styles of Wembanyama and O'Neal, but in terms of both men bringing something completely new to the game.

During a recent appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, Jamal Crawford was asked how Shaquille O'Neal would fair in today's modern NBA. He said:

"First off you're probably putting like a power forward on him because there's no more true centers. So yeah Shaq would do whatever he wanted to do. I mean Kevon Looney is not going to shut down Shaq.

"No disrespect to Kevon, but ... he was already the most dominant in that physical era, like in this era ... Shaq might even try to dust off some of his point guard skills from high school and bring it up, drop it off, and build a little bit of everything."

With that in mind, let's take a look at what Shaquille O'Neal has said about Victor Wembanyama.

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Shaquille O'Neal's comments about Victor Wembanyama

While Shaquille O'Neal has long been criticized for being hard on players, from Dwight Howard to Ben Simmons, he's a big believer in Victor Wembanyama. Although initially he harbored some concerns regarding the 7-foot-4 French star's lack of size, he has since come around to his potential greatness.

Last month, while making an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, O'Neal stated that he's more familiar with Wembanyama's game, and is quite impressed:

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“I say really fast [he can adapt to the NBA] because the guys are not playing down low anymore. Guys are not playing physical anymore. They’re switching one through five. He’s a pick-and-pop guy. He can shoot pretty good. He’s like a 7-foot-4 Kevin Durant, so I think he can acclimate very, very quickly.

“And he’s with the master. Like, having a kid like that go to ‘The System’? [Whistles] That’s what I call the Spurs, ‘The System.’ Having a kid like that go to ‘The System,’ I think people better watch out.”

Between Wembanyama's desire to be great, and the fact that he'll be learning from legends like Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan, the future looks bright for Wemby.

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