Four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most dominant players the NBA has ever seen. With two league’s scoring leader awards, Shaq was almost unguardable with his 7-foot-1 stature and over 300 lbs weight. Channing Frye, who won the 2016 NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers, revealed his impression of guarding the legendary center.
Frye revealed a story about Shaq on an episode of “The Long Shot” podcast in 2022, which featured Duncan Robinson and David Reid alongside his Road Trippin’ co-hosts Richard Jefferson and Allie Clifton. He discussed the difficulty of guarding “a tree moving like a cat.”
The 7-foot-tall Frye said, “As a human being, he’s not supposed to move like that. I was playing in New York, right? We’re up. I know he probably went out the night before, so I’m like, I’m not gonna say shit, right? I’m gonna just let this game go by. Third quarter comes and he’s doing okay. They’re down six. He looks at me, he’s like, okay, good game, Lil’ Frye. We gotta win this now.”
He added, “It’s just, poof! And it basically f***s me up for the whole quarter. Like, there’s no fouling. There’s no like, imagine trying to foul a tree moving like a cat and just dunk after hook shot, after dunk. It’s just impossible to move a human that big and that, he’s mean.”
Channing Frye Describes Shaquille O’Neal As A Combination Of These Two NBA Stars
Frye faced Shaq 15 times in his career, and the Big Aristotle averaged 13.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game. Although the Lakers legend was in the twilight of his career during most of their head-to-head clashes, Shaq managed to dominate the fixture with nine wins.
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In the podcast, the former Knicks big man described a combination of two current NBA players who can combine to become Shaquille O’Neal. Channing Frye claimed Shaq could be equated to a player with Rudy Gobert’s size and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s dominance on the court. While the Milwaukee Bucks star is often compared to Shaq due to his physical dominance, the 52-year-old is the biggest critic of the Timberwolves center.
