“Stop it, clown”: Ron Harper backs Shaquille O’Neal after comparison to Nikola Jokic’s defense
Shaquille O’Neal, the iconic Los Angeles Lakers center, was widely respected for his dominant scoring ability during his time with the team. His rare mix of size, power, and finesse made him nearly unstoppable in the paint.
O’Neal topped the NBA in field-goal percentage in six of his eight seasons in L.A. He also maintained a scoring average of over 21 points per game each season with the Lakers, surpassing 26 points per game in seven of those years.
However, O’Neal’s impact wasn’t limited to offense. He made notable contributions on defense too, earning three All-Defensive Team selections and once finishing as the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year.
Recently, Ron Harper, O’Neal’s former teammate, came to his defense on X (formerly Twitter) after someone claimed that O’Neal was a worse defender than Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic.
The post in question included footage from Game 4 of the 2004 NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons, highlighting several weak defensive moments from O’Neal. While the clip may not reflect O’Neal’s best defensive efforts, it’s not enough to judge his overall defensive career, which spanned nearly two decades.
So far, Jokic has yet to achieve any notable defensive honors. He has never been named to an All-Defensive Team or considered for Defensive Player of the Year.
While Jokic has proven himself as one of the most versatile and skilled players in today’s NBA, he hasn’t yet demonstrated that he’s superior to O’Neal defensively. Still, he continues to excel offensively — most recently becoming just the third player in league history to average a triple-double over an entire season, recording 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game during the 2024–25 campaign.
