"Shaquille O'Neal was Aaron Judge" - Rasheed Wallace gives his ideal basketball comps for the Yankees captain, Shohei Ohtani

Rasheed Wallace believes Shaquille O'Neal's early NBA career resembles what Aaron Judge is currently doing for the New York Yankees. He also thinks Shohei Ohtani's basketball comparison would be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Wallace, who played 16 seasons in the NBA, was a four-time All-Star. Notably, he won the NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. The 50-year-old provided his NBA-MLB comparison on the "6-1-1 podcast," released on YouTube on Tuesday.

"I would say the one that's easiest to me would be Aaron Judge," Rasheed Wallace said [Timestamp 44:50]. "And for me, in my opinion, that would be Shaq."

Wallace pointed out that Judge is the main guy of the Yankees, saying he can single-handedly get the Bronx Bombers out of any rut with his slugging skills. For Wallace, this ability of Aaron Judge was eerily similar to that of O'Neal, particularly when he was younger.

"I'm talking about Young Shaq," Wallace said [Timestamp 45:26]. "Not even when he got old. Like, Young Shaq when he first got to LA, to Orlando, and first got to LA, like, man, tearing the whole backboard down. And, like, he was really, I would say, yeah, he was that Aaron Judge with them monster dunks."

After Wallace’s comparison, podcast co-host Ryan Howard added that Elly De La Cruz reminded him of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He explained that De La Cruz was slippery, explosive, and dynamic, and noted that opponents often did not realize his speed until they faced him.

Howard admitted he was unsure of De La Cruz’s actual basketball skills but firmly believed their movements were alike, and when they were on fire, they became unstoppable. Wallace agreed with the take, but later circled back and drew a similar comparison between Shohei Ohtani and Gilgeous-Alexander.

Rasheed Wallace disagrees with Bryce Harper-Luka Dončić take

In the same conversation, podcast co-host Jimmy Rollings wondered if Bryce Harper's NBA equivalent could be Luka Dončić. Rasheed Wallace dismissed the comparison, particularly because of the differences in their personalities.

"No, cuz Bryce, Bryce not to me. He not fancy," Rasheed Wallace said [Timestamp 47:37]. "Like he doesn't do all the, you know, Luka. He going to be fancy with the ante. You know, but I don't, like when Bryce hits a home run, I don't see him doing all the shimmy and all that. You know, he just sling the bat and flipping."

Hearing Wallace's explanation, Rollins argued that Nikola Jokić was a better comparison for Bryce Harper. He supported his point by noting that Jokić's stat line spoke for itself and that the Nuggets star was always ready to get the job done without relying on flashy moves.