Within the fast-paced, perimeter-focused world of contemporary NBA basketball, it’s straightforward to credit score Stephen Curry, Mike D’Antoni, and even the analytics motion for the three-point revolution. However in a stunning 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 drive of nature who dominated the paint like nobody earlier than or since, who made his dwelling dunking on facilities and bullying defenders into submission. On the floor, Shaq looks like the antithesis of the three-ball period. He tried simply 22 three-pointers in his 19-year profession, making a single one. However in keeping with D’Antoni, it’s exactly Shaq’s overwhelming dominance within the publish that compelled the NBA to evolve in a special route—one that may finally result in the three-point-heavy fashion we see at this time.
D’Antoni’s Unlikely Perspective
D’Antoni, recognized for his “Seven Seconds or Much less” offense with the Phoenix Suns and his revolutionary use of the three-point shot with the Houston Rockets, has by no means hidden his perception in taking part in quick, spreading the ground, and maximizing effectivity. He was forward of the curve, usually 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 stunned many by crediting O’Neal’s post-era dominance because the very cause the league needed to transfer away from that fashion of play.
“Shaq was so dominant that groups had no selection however to vary,” D’Antoni stated. “You couldn’t beat him taking part in the identical sport. For those who tried to go huge and bang within the publish, 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 publish as a result of it wasn’t efficient—it advanced as a result of Shaq made it not possible to win that manner until you had Shaq.
The Period of Shaq: Dominance within the Paint
To grasp D’Antoni’s logic, we have now to return to the early 2000s when Shaquille O’Neal was probably the most unstoppable drive in basketball. Throughout his prime with the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaq averaged over 27 factors and 11 rebounds per sport, led the league in discipline objective share a number of instances, and captured three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002.
There was merely no reply for him within the publish. Groups tried double groups, zone defenses, hack-a-Shaq—all to little impact. For those who performed a standard huge man towards him, you misplaced. For those who 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 struggle fireplace with fireplace? They modify the sport.
The Strategic Shift: Combating Giants with Pace and Spacing
Confronted with an unwinnable battle inside, many coaches and entrance workplaces started to discover different methods. What if, as an alternative of making an attempt to match Shaq’s measurement, you merely made him work tougher defensively? What when you 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 working 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 fee 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 might attempt to beat them in a special sport. 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 word. 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 trigger of the shift, the justification got here later within the type of analytics. As groups started to raised perceive the worth of the three-point shot and the inefficiency of lengthy twos, the perimeter sport 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 might solely go thus far—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 Trendy Recreation
Paradoxically, Shaquille O’Neal could be the largest cause why huge males at this time 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 huge man all however disappeared. Immediately’s facilities—Nikola Joki?, Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Cities—are as snug 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. Flooring spacing is non-negotiable. It’s a special sport completely, and all of it stems from a second when the outdated manner of doing issues hit a wall named Shaquille.
The Irony of Affect
There’s a wonderful irony in D’Antoni’s argument. Shaq, a participant who mocked the three-point shot and dominated in a manner few might replicate, might have single-handedly pushed the league towards embracing the very fashion he dismissed. With out Shaq, the publish sport may 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 usually discovered himself on the improper aspect of Shaq-led playoff losses, ended up being one of many architects of that innovation.
“Shaq made us evolve,” D’Antoni stated. “And as soon as we did, the sport modified endlessly.”
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 usually 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 completely new methods to play the sport. It wasn’t about being higher at what already labored—it was about doing one thing totally different. And in doing so, they laid the groundwork for a revolution.
Immediately, groups routinely take 40 or 50 three-pointers in a sport. 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.
Ultimate Ideas
Mike D’Antoni’s credit score to Shaquille O’Neal might sound unusual on first listening to, nevertheless it makes good sense when seen by way of the lens of basketball evolution. Shaq didn’t simply dominate his period—he outlined it so completely that he unintentionally compelled the subsequent 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 drive change by being so good that the established order turns into out of date.
So the subsequent time you watch a three-point barrage, keep in mind: someplace in that flurry of photographs lies the legacy of a 7-foot big who by no means cared for the three-point line, however whose presence made it an important shot within the sport.