Shaquille O’Neal says he’d average 50 PPG in today’s NBA: ‘Ain’t nobody moving me’

Maybe no player in the history of the NBA was a more dominant scorer at the height of his powers than former Los Angeles Lakers big man Shaquille O’Neal.

After putting himself on the map as a superstar with the Orlando Magic, O’Neal continued his dominance by averaging 27.0 points per game across his eight-season stint with the storied Lakers franchise, all while putting the ball through the net with fantastic efficiency. He led the entire NBA in field-goal percentage in all but two of his campaigns as a Laker.

The game has since changed, but O’Neal thinks he would average a whopping 50 points per game in the modern NBA. The only player in the history of the league to average at least 50 points per contest in a season was Wilt Chamberlain.

“Somebody asked me the other day what would I average — I would average 50,” O’Neal said. “And the reason why I’d average 50 ’cause I don’t do what everybody else is doing. You shoot a 3 on me, Joker (Nikola Jokic), you better f—— make it because I’ma run right by you and stand in the middle of the lane and watch you and your whole f—— team go, ‘Three seconds, three seconds, three seconds!’ And Penny [Hardaway] gonna push that b—- and throw it, and I’ma dunk it. And I know for a fact I’ll make 15 2s before you make 10 3s.

“I’m getting 30. I’m getting 30 every night. And then now when you foul somebody, it’s a flagrant, so guys don’t really wanna foul you hard. … That’s another 10 points right there, and then I’ma concentrate on the f—— free throw, get that elbow there — that’s 45 points right there. ‘Oh, Shaq couldn’t play in this league.’ Shaq ain’t known for defense. Okay, Joker, you can hit a 3, but again, I’ma run right by you, and I’ma seal my a– in the lane, and ain’t nobody moving me ’cause you know why? If you move me, you make my mama move out of her house, and that s— ain’t gonna happen.”

O’Neal’s mention of Hardaway is interesting, as they were teammates on the Magic. It raises a question of whether O’Neal envisions his Magic-era self or Lakers-era self as the player who would average 50 points per game in today’s NBA. Of course, he may very well mean both.

Points are arguably as easy to come by now as they have ever been in the lengthy history of the NBA, and plenty of players scored at a high level in the 2024-25 regular season. In total, 23 qualified players in the league averaged 22-plus points per game, and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the league by averaging 32.7 points per contest.

But it’s also reasonable to be skeptical about how O’Neal’s traditional style of play for a big man on the offensive side of the ball would translate into the modern game.

After all, teams have gravitated away from post play, and the 3-point shot is a staple of today’s offenses. O’Neal was a non-threat from deep for the entirety of his pro career, as he converted just one 3-pointer during his time in the pros.

Whether or not O’Neal would average as many points as he said he would in the modern NBA is up for debate, but what’s not up for debate is that he thrived in the era he played in, as he retired from the league with 15 All-Star nods, an MVP award and four NBA titles on his resume.

Folks would be hard-pressed to find many NBA centers past or present with resumes that stack up against O’Neal’s.