Shaq Calls Wembanyama the First Perfect Big Man Ever Created
shaq called Victor Wembanyama the first perfect big man ever created during a Tuesday, April 28 appearance on Inside the NBA. The praise came with a clear ranking too: Wembanyama is No. 2 among NBA big men right now, with Shaquille O’Neal putting Nikola Jokic just ahead.
Shaquille O’Neal on Wembanyama
“I think Wemby is the first perfect big man that’s ever (been) created. Can shoot, free throws, play defense, play offense, he’s a great team player,” O’Neal said. “I’m happy for the Spurs. Happy for Wemby. For me, he’s a joy to watch.”
O’Neal went further and drew a short timeline for Wembanyama’s rise. “In two years, he will be right next to Jokic (Denver’s Nikola Jokic) as the best big in the league,” he said. “Right now, he’s No. 2 but not far behind. He’s playing excellent basketball and I’m happy for the young fella.”
Wembanyama’s third season
That evaluation lands in the middle of Wembanyama’s third season, when the Spurs center helped San Antonio beat the Trail Blazers 4-1 in the first round. He averaged 21.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.0 blocks per game in that series, numbers that fit the all-around profile O’Neal described.
Wembanyama is also in the mix for the 2025-26 NBA MVP award alongside Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. For a player still in his third season, that puts him in the same conversation as the league’s established front-runners while O’Neal’s comments push his standing even higher among current big men.
Jokic and the Spurs center
O’Neal’s praise carries extra weight because he is a Hall of Famer and four-time NBA champion who has not always been eager to hand out compliments to current big men. He has previously criticized the position for drifting away from the paint, which makes this endorsement of Wembanyama more direct than a routine warm-up sound bite.
For Wembanyama, the message is simple: the league’s most dominant former big man now sees him as the second-best at the position, with Jokic still in front and a two-year runway to close the gap. That is a sharp public benchmark for a center entering the part of his career where awards talk and position rankings start to follow every series and every stat line.
