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  "path": "/theres-never-a-bad-time-to-gawk-at-young-shaq-highlights",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-01T14:26:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://defector.com",
  "tags": [
    "Elder Wisdom",
    "NBA",
    "2026 NBA Playoffs",
    "Joel Embiid",
    "memory lane",
    "old guys",
    "shaquille o'neal",
    "give the business"
  ],
  "textContent": "Earlier this week, the Defector staff was chatting about Joel Embiid. Watching him give the business to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of that series, with a vintage 33 points in a 113-97 road win for the 76ers, had been fun and surprisingly ... stirring? Not just because it came against the hated Celtics, but because the former MVP pretty plainly doesn't have much left. One of the things he no longer has, to cite an example, is \"jumping.\" Another is \"running.\"\n\nThis got me thinking about what an utter mutant Shaquille O'Neal was.\n\nThis is Embiid's age-31 season. In his NBA career, regular season and playoffs combined, Embiid has played 551 games, and he wears them like Jacob Marley's chains and money boxes. He has not played in over half of any regular season since 2022–23, and over his career he has missed 30 or more games in more seasons than not. O'Neal—taller and heavier than Embiid, but also playing a more rugged style in a more violent era, having played more than three times as much college basketball as Embiid, infamously never doing anything to stay in shape between seasons—played his 551st NBA game somewhere in the middle of his age-27 season. He won the MVP award that year. He played in 79 games that regular season (plus 23 playoff games on the way to his first championship and Finals MVP award) and averaged 40 minutes per game.",
  "title": "There’s Never A Bad Time To Gawk At Young Shaq Highlights"
}