The definition of Centers in the NBA has completely changed in the past 25 years. Basketball has evolved from paint-dominant Centers like Shaquille O’Neal and Patrick Ewing to more agile and lean Bigs who can shoot the rock from outside, such as Kristaps Porzingis and Nikola Jokic. The game’s evolution can be noticed in how the top two rookies this year, Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, are both well over 7 feet but can move like a gazelle. Although both Victor and Chet have a lot of length, their agility and swiftness come from not carrying much muscle mass in their frame.

Last year, Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal hit Wembanyama with a harsh reality. As the NBA World is getting accustomed to watching players like Wemby and Holmgren, the Hall of Famer reasserted his dominance again by highlighting an uncanny comparison between him and the two rookies.

Shaquille O’Neal and his uncanny comparison

Seeing how lean the two 7-footers Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren are, the NBA world compared their combined weight with prime Shaquille O’Neal. Big Diesel, who has shed 55lbs this year, was intrigued by the stat and shared it on his Instagram story. As it turns out, Victor and Chet have a combined weight of 405 lbs, which barely surpasses the weight of prime Shaq, who weighed 385 lbs in his playing days. It is crazy to think that Superman was almost as big as the two rookies combined. Maybe that is why the Hall of Famer is considered the most dominant player in NBA history.

But Shaq’s weight did not mean he was not athletic or quick. In fact, the Lakers legend moved like a cat for his size and could run both ends of the floor with ease. He drove around the court like he was a point guard.

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Shaq had a Hall of Fame career, winning 4 Championships, and he averaged 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in his 19-year career. With the staggering size difference between him and Wemby, Shaq hit the Frenchman with a harsh reality last year, “He’s not the future Shaq.”

The New Era of NBA Centers

With Bigs like Dirk Nowitzki coming into the NBA and Stephen Curry revolutionizing basketball with his shooting ability, NBA Centers have also adapted to contemporary game. We are in a new era of NBA Centers that have the size of a traditional Big but can move and shoot like a point guard. Players like Nikola Jokic and Kristaps Porzingis are prime examples of this. Shaq believes that Wembanyama can create his own identity by becoming “The first Victor”.

Wembanyama and Holmgren are putting up elite performances in the preseason, and are expected to carry the torch in the future.

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With Wemby doing step-back jumpers with crazy handles at 7’4 and Chet shooting lights out at 7’1, the NBA world is excited to witness how the two rookies take the game of basketball to new heights.