Within the fast-paced, perimeter-focused world of recent NBA basketball, it’s simple to credit score Stephen Curry, Mike D’Antoni, and even the analytics motion for the three-point revolution. However in a shocking twist, former head coach and offensive mastermind Mike D’Antoni has pointed to an unlikely determine as a catalyst for the rise of the three-point shot: Shaquille O’Neal.
Sure, that Shaquille O’Neal—the 7’1”, 325-pound pressure of nature who dominated the paint like nobody earlier than or since, who made his residing dunking on facilities and bullying defenders into submission. On the floor, Shaq looks as if the antithesis of the three-ball period. He tried simply 22 three-pointers in his 19-year profession, making a single one. However based on D’Antoni, it’s exactly Shaq’s overwhelming dominance within the submit that pressured the NBA to evolve in a distinct course—one that might ultimately result in the three-point-heavy fashion we see as we speak.
D’Antoni’s Unlikely Perspective
D’Antoni, recognized for his “Seven Seconds or Much less” offense with the Phoenix Suns and his modern use of the three-point shot with the Houston Rockets, has by no means hidden his perception in enjoying quick, spreading the ground, and maximizing effectivity. He was forward of the curve, typically criticized for programs that, in hindsight, formed the way forward for the league.
However throughout an interview reflecting on the evolution of NBA offenses, D’Antoni shocked many by crediting O’Neal’s post-era dominance because the very motive the league needed to transfer away from that fashion of play.
“Shaq was so dominant that groups had no alternative however to vary,” D’Antoni mentioned. “You couldn’t beat him enjoying the identical recreation. In case you tried to go massive and bang within the submit, you had been going to lose. So, groups began spreading the ground, capturing threes, and making an attempt to win with quickness and spacing. It was the one solution to compete.”
In different phrases, the league didn’t evolve away from the submit as a result of it wasn’t efficient—it developed as a result of Shaq made it unimaginable to win that manner except you had Shaq.
The Period of Shaq: Dominance within the Paint
To know D’Antoni’s logic, we’ve got to return to the early 2000s when Shaquille O’Neal was essentially the most unstoppable pressure in basketball. Throughout his prime with the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaq averaged over 27 factors and 11 rebounds per recreation, led the league in area objective share a number of occasions, and captured three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002.
There was merely no reply for him within the submit. Groups tried double groups, zone defenses, hack-a-Shaq—all to little impact. In case you performed a conventional massive man towards him, you misplaced. In case you tried to go small, he punished you. Shaq wasn’t simply good—he was traditionally unguardable.
So what do groups do after they can’t combat hearth with hearth? They alter the sport.
The Strategic Shift: Preventing Giants with Pace and Spacing
Confronted with an unwinnable battle inside, many coaches and entrance workplaces started to discover various methods. What if, as a substitute of making an attempt to match Shaq’s measurement, you merely made him work tougher defensively? What if you happen to spaced the ground, pulled the massive man out of the paint, and prioritized tempo over energy?
Mike D’Antoni took this concept and ran with it in Phoenix. With Steve Nash operating level, Amar’e Stoudemire as a dynamic pick-and-roll menace, and a roster stuffed with shooters, D’Antoni’s Suns pushed the tempo and launched threes at a price hardly ever seen within the league on the time. They weren’t constructed to cease Shaq—they had been constructed to outrun and outscore him.
“We weren’t going to outmuscle the Lakers or Spurs,” D’Antoni recalled. “However we may attempt to beat them in a distinct recreation. And it virtually labored.”
D’Antoni’s Suns by no means made the Finals, however they laid the groundwork for a brand new fashion of play. Different groups took be aware. Then got here Golden State, Stephen Curry, and a full-blown three-point revolution.
The Analytics Period Confirms the Shift
Whereas Shaq might have been the reason for the shift, the justification got here later within the type of analytics. As groups started to higher perceive the worth of the three-point shot and the inefficiency of lengthy twos, the perimeter recreation took over.
However the analytics didn’t invent the shift—they merely validated a brand new solution to survive. The three-point shot, it turned out, wasn’t only a gimmick. It was a strategic necessity born out of an period the place conventional inside scoring may solely go to this point—particularly when Shaq was anchoring the paint.
And as D’Antoni factors out, as soon as the genie was out of the bottle, there was no going again.
“As soon as groups noticed they might win by capturing threes, they by no means appeared again. And it began as a result of we needed to discover a manner round Shaq.”
Shaq’s Oblique Legacy within the Fashionable Sport
Satirically, Shaquille O’Neal will be the largest motive why massive males as we speak are anticipated to stretch the ground. Whereas Shaq proved the facility of measurement, he additionally uncovered its limitations in a altering league. After him, the post-centric massive man all however disappeared. At present’s facilities—Nikola Joki?, Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Cities—are as comfy capturing from past the arc as they’re posting up.
And it’s not simply facilities. Groups now construct round spacing and tempo. The nook three is sacred. Ground spacing is non-negotiable. It’s a distinct recreation fully, and all of it stems from a second when the previous manner of doing issues hit a wall named Shaquille.
The Irony of Affect
There’s an exquisite irony in D’Antoni’s argument. Shaq, a participant who mocked the three-point shot and dominated in a manner few may replicate, might have single-handedly pushed the league towards embracing the very fashion he dismissed. With out Shaq, the submit recreation might need remained the dominant technique. As a substitute, the necessity to compete with him created an setting the place innovation thrived.
And Mike D’Antoni, who typically discovered himself on the incorrect aspect of Shaq-led playoff losses, ended up being one of many architects of that innovation.
“Shaq made us evolve,” D’Antoni mentioned. “And as soon as we did, the sport modified eternally.”
Classes in Evolution and Adaptation
The story of Shaquille O’Neal’s oblique function within the three-point revolution is an ideal instance of how evolution works—not simply in basketball, however in life. Dominance in a single space typically forces others to innovate or perish. Shaq’s sheer dominance closed one strategic door however opened one other.
In making an attempt to unravel the “Shaq drawback,” coaches like D’Antoni unlocked fully new methods to play the sport. It wasn’t about being higher at what already labored—it was about doing one thing completely different. And in doing so, they laid the groundwork for a revolution.
At present, groups routinely take 40 or 50 three-pointers in a recreation. Guards pull up from 30 toes. Massive males are anticipated to shoot from vary. And whereas Shaq himself by no means performed that manner, his affect is felt in each possession that begins five-out, each pick-and-pop three, and each lineup that trades measurement for velocity.
Remaining Ideas
Mike D’Antoni’s credit score to Shaquille O’Neal might sound unusual on first listening to, nevertheless it makes excellent sense when considered by the lens of basketball evolution. Shaq didn’t simply dominate his period—he outlined it so totally that he unintentionally pressured the following one to start. In making an attempt to beat him, the league found a brand new path—one paved with three-pointers, spacing, and tempo.
It’s a reminder that generally, the most important innovators will not be those who change—however the ones who pressure change by being so good that the established order turns into out of date.
So the following time you watch a three-point barrage, bear in mind: someplace in that flurry of pictures lies the legacy of a 7-foot large who by no means cared for the three-point line, however whose presence made it crucial shot within the recreation.
