"Copycat League": Shaquille O’Neal Says NBA Teams Are Copying Golden State Warriors Without Shooters To Match

Shaquille O'Neal thinks the NBA has a copying problem. Speaking about where the league is heading, the four-time champion said teams are trying to play like the Golden State Warriors without the shooters that made the style work. Plenty of players take threes, he argued, but few are true shooters in the mould of Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Shaq's Case: Shooters Versus Players Who Shoot

O'Neal calls it a “copycat league”: teams saw Golden State win and tried to do the same, but the personnel did not follow. “A lot of guys play that way, but you're not shooters,” he said.

Golden State's influence is real enough. Spacing, ball movement and a heavy diet of threes have been copied across the league for years, and critics have noted how many of those attempts come from players who are not skilled shooters.

Shaq's counterexample is the Warriors' own trio. Durant joined in 2016 and won two Finals MVPs in Golden State, helping the team to titles in 2017 and 2018 before leaving for Brooklyn in 2019. Alongside him were Curry, the NBA's all-time leader in made threes, and Thompson.

Durant got the loudest praise. O'Neal called him a prolific scorer, with an expletive attached for emphasis, and a shooter on top of that. Curry and Thompson qualify as shooters too, he added, though Durant is different because he can score even when the jumper is off. Elsewhere in the league, Shaq sees players who can hit an open shot now and then, which in his book is not the same thing.

Percentages, Analytics And Durant's Benchmark

Then came analytics. When a player shoots around 30 per cent, the numbers-first defence does not move O'Neal. His grading scale is simple: 30 per cent is an F in his school, and 34 or 35 per cent still does not impress him.

For context, Curry's career three-point percentage sits a little above 42 per cent. Durant's is nearer 39.

Durant has his own cut-off. The conventional view, he said, treats 36 per cent as a good three-point mark. His own bar sits higher: “42% is a good three-point percentage to me.”