Oh boy. Not everyone is going to like this.
NBA on TNT analyst and former NBA champion, Shaquille O’Neal, better known as Shaq, has received attention lately for his criticism of NBA players. One way he’s responded is to say that nobody in the current NBA has accomplished what he has — save for two players.
That would be LeBron James, a four-time NBA champion and possibly he greatest player of all time, and the Warriors’ own Stephen Curry, the winner of three NBA titles with Golden State.
Here’s what Shaq said, courtesy of some nice sleuthing from Twitter user Deandre Hayton.
“I know what greatness is.” True Shaq, very true.
Here’s when this story first hit my radar. Check out this exchange between Shaq and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell, if you can even call it that, with Mitchell’s short reply.
So is Shaq being too harsh? He may be suffering form old-dude syndrome, when everything was better back in his day. But O’Neal does have a point — very few players in the current NBA have the honors that Shaq earned during his amazing career, when he won three straight titles with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers and picked up another championship in Miami with Dwayne Wade. Shaq was simply one of the dominant centers in NBA history.
So if he’s loud about it, maybe just ignore him, as Mitchell did. But Shaq still gives respect when it’s do, at least in some cases. That definitely includes James and Curry. They help to prop up the current NBA, with their multiple Larry O’Brian trophies and exceptional star power, just like Shaq back in the day.
(Photo credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)
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