After several media outlets posted their Top 100 or Top 50 NBA players lists in recent weeks, Hall of Famer and TNT NBA analyst Shaquille O'Neal also made his own Top 50 list . Just recently, Diesel released the names of players No. 21 to 50 on his list, and perhaps the biggest surprise was San Antonio Spurs sophomore Victor Wembanyama , whom the NBA great listed as No. 31.
In a video, Shaq justified his Wemby ranking by quoting his father: "You're good, but you're not good enough." He then went on to explain why he put Wemby that low.
"So he's really good. He's really, really good," said Shaq. "But when your team doesn't make the playoffs, when you're that guy, and all the pressure's on you, [it] don't matter who you got with you, you have to win. With the addition of CP3 and they made some a couple more moves, they definitely should be pretty good. But right now, he's at 30."
Wemby exceeded ultra-high expectations
The 7'4" Frenchman entered last year's NBA Draft as the most highly-touted prospect since LeBron James. But like LeBron did in '03, Wembanyama lived up to his billing and even went on to exceed the crazy expectations.
Wemby averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and a league-leading 3.6 blocks per game last season while easily winning the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year award. But while Victor was superb, his Spurs were quite the opposite. They won only 22 regular-season games to finish with the fifth-worst record in the league.
"I hope this upsets him," added O'Neal. "As the reigning Lord Supreme of the Big Man Alliance, I hope all the big men who feel I slighted them, I hope this upsets you. Aren't you tired of the guards getting all the credit, big men? Well, do something about it."
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Shaq once compared himself to Wemby
O'Neal ranking Wemby that low due to the lack of team success did not come as a surprise. That's because, at the start of the year, he compared the Spurs' phenom to himself in terms of the pressure he had to turn around the Magic's fortunes when he arrived in Orlando.
"I was Victor Wembanyama before him - You come in, they expect you to turn things around," said O'Neal. "You have a lot of pressure in you and a lot of hype coming in. Our first year, we went 41-41. I think we were 19, 20 games better than the year before. And the next year, substantially better. Then the third year, we got Horace Grant, where we made it to the Finals and got swept by Kenny (Smith) but it was a great four years there."
Shaquille's Top 50 list is just his opinion, just as ESPN's is the opinion of the panel that created it. But knowing Wembyanyama, he's a kid who is particular about what people say about him.
After hearing Shaq's take, Wemby might take this as a challenge to be better, not that he needs more motivation to do so. Hopefully, "CP3's" arrival will add more wins to the Spurs' total, so Big Diesel will move Wemby higher on his next list.
Related: "Wemby is gonna be the greatest player to ever play the game"ー GG Jackson feels the only person who can stop Victor Wembanyama is himself
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