Looking at the current NBA, the dominant big men are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic. These players epitomize the modern power forward and center positions, which is totally different from the traditional big man role.
These players have won the last six league MVP awards, showcasing their ability to pass, shoot, and handle the ball like guards. However, not long ago, the definition of a dominant big man vastly differed. And no one embodied that old-school dominance more than Shaquille O’Neal.
O’Neal’s case
The old-school dominance by big men seems to have faded and lost in time in today’s fast-space, spacing, and high-volume shooting game. The four-time champion blames himself for making big men’s dominance almost an extinct part of the game.
“That’s my fault,” “Big Diesel” said. “It’s my fault because I used to punish them so much when they’d come down into that paint.”
Standing at 7’1″ inch and over 300 pounds, LSU product was a force. His combination of strength, agility, and footwork made him an unstoppable presence in the paint. Over his 19-year pro career, he won four championships, earned three NBA Finals MVP awards, and made 15 All-Star appearances.
His impact was so overwhelming that defenders often resorted to hacking him just to slow him down. Despite a well-documented struggle at the free-throw line, O’Neal currently sits ninth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Had he converted even 70 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe, his career point total could have been significantly higher. Selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft, Shaq immediately transformed the Orlando Magic from a struggling expansion team into a playoff contender.
In just his third season, he led the team to the Finals. Later, his move to the Los Angeles Lakers alongside Kobe Bryant sparked a dynasty, bringing three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002. In his prime, he couldn’t be stopped when charging towards the rim.
Modern big men
The sheer physicality that O’Neal brought to the game had lasting effects on the evolution of the big man position. As teams struggled to find ways to counter his inside dominance, a shift began. Stretch bigs, players who could step outside and shoot from deep, started gaining prominence.
“There’s two types of big men,” “Big Aristotle” said. “There’s the Dirk Nowitzki big man, and there’s the real physical big man, which is good. That’s not a knock on Dirk Nowitzki; he’s one of the top players in the game. That’s just how he plays. But me personally, I don’t like seven-footers shooting 3-pointers. They’re gone. I killed them off.”
Dirk Nowitzki was one of the pioneers of this new wave. Standing 7 feet tall, he defied traditional big-man roles by using his smooth shooting stroke to space the floor. His signature one-legged fadeaway became one of the most unguardable moves in NBA history, helping him lead the Dallas Mavericks to a championship in 2011.
The influence of players like Nowitzki and later Jokic shifted the role of big men. Teams prioritized versatility over brute force, leading to the rise of big men who could handle the ball, stretch the floor, and create plays from anywhere on the court.
While players like Embiid and Antetokounmpo still bring a dominant inside presence to the rim, they combine it with skills that traditional centers never needed.
O’Neal’s dominance forced the league to evolve. While he might jokingly take credit for “killing off” traditional centers, the reality is that the game’s evolution was inevitable. Teams sought efficiency and adaptability, leading to the rise of stretch bigs and multi-dimensional forwards.
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