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 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 drive 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 put up that compelled the NBA to evolve in a unique route—one that will finally result in the three-point-heavy model we see at present.
D’Antoni’s Unlikely Perspective
D’Antoni, identified for his “Seven Seconds or Much less” offense with the Phoenix Suns and his progressive 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, 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 model of play.
“Shaq was so dominant that groups had no selection however to vary,” D’Antoni stated. “You couldn’t beat him enjoying the identical recreation. If you happen to tried to go massive and bang within the put up, you have 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 put up as a result of it wasn’t efficient—it developed as a result of Shaq made it not possible to win that method except 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 essentially the most unstoppable drive in basketball. Throughout his prime with the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaq averaged over 27 factors and 11 rebounds per recreation, led the league in subject aim proportion a number of occasions, and captured three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002.
There was merely no reply for him within the put up. Groups tried double groups, zone defenses, hack-a-Shaq—all to little impact. If you happen to performed a standard massive man in opposition to him, you misplaced. If you happen to 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 battle 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 places of work started to discover different methods. What if, as a substitute of making an attempt to match Shaq’s dimension, you merely made him work tougher defensively? What in case you spaced the ground, pulled the large 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 risk, and a roster stuffed with shooters, D’Antoni’s Suns pushed the tempo and launched threes at a fee not often seen within the league on the time. They weren’t constructed to cease Shaq—they have 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 unique recreation. And it nearly labored.”
D’Antoni’s Suns by no means made the Finals, however they laid the groundwork for a brand new model 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 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 regarded again. And it began as a result of we needed to discover a method round Shaq.”
Shaq’s Oblique Legacy within the Fashionable Sport
Satirically, Shaquille O’Neal would be the largest cause why massive males at present are anticipated to stretch the ground. Whereas Shaq proved the facility of dimension, 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. Flooring spacing is non-negotiable. It’s a unique recreation fully, and all of it stems from a second when the outdated method 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 method few may replicate, might have single-handedly pushed the league towards embracing the very model he dismissed. With out Shaq, the put up recreation may need remained the dominant technique. As an alternative, the necessity to compete with him created an setting the place innovation thrived.
And Mike D’Antoni, who usually discovered himself on the flawed facet 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 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 usually forces others to innovate or perish. Shaq’s sheer dominance closed one strategic door however opened one other.
In making an attempt to resolve the “Shaq downside,” 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 totally 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. Large males are anticipated to shoot from vary. And whereas Shaq himself by no means performed that method, his affect is felt in each possession that begins five-out, each pick-and-pop three, and each lineup that trades dimension for velocity.
Closing Ideas
Mike D’Antoni’s credit score to Shaquille O’Neal might sound unusual on first listening to, however it makes excellent sense when considered by way of the lens of basketball evolution. Shaq didn’t simply dominate his period—he outlined it so totally 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 typically, the most important innovators usually are not 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, bear in mind: someplace in that flurry of photographs lies the legacy of a 7-foot large who by no means cared for the three-point line, however whose presence made it an important shot within the recreation.
