The Shaq Effect

[Pimpin]

I didn't see a thread on this but I apologize if there is one about this.

Anyways moving on now me & my girlfriend(who is a Lakers fan) were doing our annual debate on whether Kobe Bryant would be a star without Shaquille O'Neal watching his back. Well it got me to thinking about making this thread all about the players that became All-Star to Superstar calibur players when Shaquille O'Neal was playing on their team. It's no secret that in the 3 previous places that Shaq has played in(Magic, Lakers & Heat), there has been at least 1 player on that team that became a superstar once he was there. The list of players are below.

Penny Hardaway became a star when Shaq was around in Orlando & of course was a big help for much of Shaq's time in Orlando but of course his numbers dipped down a bit once Shaq left Orlando & once Penny left Orlando. His career hasn't truly been the same since.

Kobe Bryant the reigning league MVP. It's debatable whether Phil Jackson's presence or Shaq's presence actually helped Kobe become one of the best in the league but nonetheless Kobe became a star during Shaq's time with the Lakers & that happened during the Lakers 99-00 title run which became the first of three straight championship wins for the Lakers as they looked to be a dynasty. It's also noted that during Shaq's tenure in LA that Kobe officially became a clutch player by performing spectacular in the 4th quarter when it mattered most. Sadly all good things had to come to an end when the Lakers traded Shaq to the Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler & Brian Grant. The Lakers also did not renew Phil Jackson's contract(he eventually came back to coach the Lakers a season later).

Dwayne Wade. 5 time NBA All-Star & was selected 5th overall in a draft class that produced LeBron James, Carmello Anthony & Josh Howard. The Heat were a suprising team in Wade's rookie season & made it all the way into the second round but Wade wasn't even considered a star to this point.

The 2004-2005 season however the Heat traded for Shaquille O'Neal to create the duo of Superman & Flash. Upon Shaq's arrival the Heat improved their overall record by 17 games & made the Eastern Confrence Finals before falling to the Detroit Pistons in 7 games.

The 2005-2006 season proved to be the biggest success for Superman/Flash duo(much to my displeasure). Wade's PPG improved by 3.1 points & led his team to their 3rd straight playoff appearance(2nd with Shaq). By this season Wade had become one of the most prominent players in the NBA. The season was capped off with the Heat winning their first NBA Championship by defeating the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games(I hated that moment as I am a Mavericks fan).

We now switch to last season. Wade was injured for a huge amount of time & missed 31 games due to injury & the Heat fell to the worst record in the NBA 15-67.

We now go to this season. With the addition of Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers & Jermaine O'Neal(midseason trade with the Raptors). The Heat rebounded from that terrible season to make the postseason with the record at 43-39 & secured the #5 seed in the Eastern Confrence for the NBA Playoffs. Currently the Heat are down 1-0 against the Hawks.

So all & all I guess that information leads me to one question. Do you think any of these players that I mentioned in this post would have became Stars if Shaq wasn't on their team?

 

[FromTheSouth]

I disagree. Penny Hardawy's number dropped because of injuries. Also, the Magic brought in Grant Hill, a player who is able to bring the ball up the court, distribute the ball, and allow Penny to play off the ball. All of these things should hav ehelped Penny, but njuries got in the way of what should have been a Hall of Fame career.

Kobe is talented. I would venture that Shaq never would have won a title without Kobe just like in reverse. Shaq's only trip to the finals before Kobe ended in a sweep. Having Kobe around made it hard to double Shaq.

Dwayne Wade took a terrible Heat team to the playoffs the year before Shaq showed up. They even won the first round, and they did so because Wade made himself a star. He was already established. If anything, Wade made Shaq better instead of the other way around.

Shaq has always been over rated. He has always needed a second banana to win. Truly great big men need a competent point guard and two shooters to win, like Hakeem Olajuwon and the '94 Rockets.

 

[Franchize1990]

Can't really say anything on whether or not Hardaway would've been a star with or without Shaq because I was too young to remember that duo and all I'd cared about was how the Lakers were doing during that era.

Kobe would absolutly be a star without the big man in the middle. He would still be talked about as the best player of this era and maybe all of the NBA. The only knock on Bryant, if he didn't have Shaq, would be the same like Manning with the Colts in saying Kobe couldn't win the big one when it came down to it.

As fromthesouth said it, Wade was already a superstar with the Heat before O'Neal got to Miami. But, if Wade was ever going to win a title, he was going to need some help by a player of Shaq's calibur. The addition of Shaq took some pressure off of him and allowed him to become greater and that led to, I believe, Miami's only championship.

So in conclusion, all of the players mentioned probably would become stars anyway but, if Shaq wasn't on the team, it would be a few more years before they would be as great as they are today