"Hope he doesn't show up" - George Karl says the most difficult opponent to prepare for wasn't Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant

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NBA coaches have the unenviable task of preparing for specific opponents come playoff time. Naturally, some players are more challenging to scheme against, given their offensive talent and basketball IQ. If you ask coaches which stars are the most difficult to plan for, most will mention Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

George Karl begs to differ, though. In an appearance on Scoop B Radio, the longtime coach regarded Shaquille O’Neal as the hardest matchup to prepare for.

Looking for the Kryptonite to Shaq

There’s a reason O’Neal used to refer to himself as Superman. His physique and mastery of the low post made him one of the most dominant players of all time. When the Hall of Famer led the Los Angeles Lakers to a three-peat, only a few big men could contain him, as some of them were already past their prime or had yet to reach theirs.

Karl must be thanking his lucky stars he mostly coached in the other conference from Shaq during the legendary center’s peak years. From 1992 to 1998, the former Coach of the Year helmed the Seattle SuperSonics. After that, he was manning the Milwaukee Bucks’ sideline until 2005.

Still, some might scoff at the idea that the 72-year-old would rather face Jordan or Bryant than O’Neal. To be fair, he had Gary Payton to guard MJ when he met the Chicago Bulls icon in the 1996 Finals. And when Kobe was at his peak in the late 2000s, the late Lakers legend never had a teammate as elite as Shaq, who could draw the defensive attention away.

Interestingly, Karl had an odd way of defending O’Neal in the 1994 All-Star Game when he went there as the West’s coach, and Shaq was the East’s starting center. Double-teaming or triple-teaming him proved effective, as he scored just eight points. But the East still got the last laugh, going home with the victory.

Shaq would agree

If O’Neal catches wind of Karl’s statement, particularly when he said the best thing some teams could do against the former MVP was to pray he wouldn’t show up, Shaq probably would agree. In 2000, as Los Angeles was on its way to terrorizing the Indiana Pacers in the Finals, he was asked how he would have guarded himself, answering that he would’ve just faked an injury and gone home.

Unfortunately for the “Big Aristotle,” covering him as he aged became much more straightforward. Not only did his strength and agility decline, but his apparent lack of dedication to his conditioning also made it easier to put single coverage on him. Injuries also took a toll on his body. So, while the 15-time All-Star continued to show up on the floor in the latter stages of his career, opposing defenses didn’t have to plan as hard for him.