Minnesota Timberwolves Big man Rudy Gobert didn’t take kindly to being called Shaquille O’Neal’s “WOAT,” or worst player of all time, during an interview with his son, Myles O’Neal, for Complex.
And he said what he thought about it.
O’Neal was asked who his WOAT was NBA player was, and he was quick to respond with Gobert.
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Shaquille O’Neal on TNT NBA Tip-Off live streams ahead of the October 24, 2023 game at Ball Arena in Denver. (Jamie Schwaberow/NBAE via Getty Images)
Myles asked if Gobert was “worse than Ben Simmons“, which led his father to another quick response.
“Ben Simmons is another bum,” O’Neal said. “You know why? I’ll tell you why. If you sign a $250 contract [million]show me 250. There’s a reason why I walk funny, why I can’t turn my neck because I played for my [$120 million].
“There are guys like him who are screwing up the system. They are making all this money and they don’t know how to play the game. I don’t respect guys like that. Every time I make those comments, people think I hate them.
“But these are facts. You have teachers, firefighters, doctors who have real jobs and who are not paid like crap.”
Gobert went to X to fire back at O’Neal.
“It’s sad to see someone who has accomplished as much as you have @SHAQ, both in sports and business, still be influenced by another man’s finances and accomplishments,” Gobert wrote. “I understand the entertainment aspect, but unlike some people, you don’t need that kind of stuff to stay relevant.”
Rudy Gobert #27 of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts during the second quarter against the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round Playoffs at Target Center on May 12, 2024 in Minneapolis. (David Berding/Getty Images)
Gobert’s contract with the T-Wolves is worth $205 million over five years, a deal he signed in December 2020 while still a member of the team. Utah Jazzand all of this is guaranteed money.
Gobert was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year before getting this deal, and he won the award again last season after averaging 2.1 blocks and 9.2 defensive rebounds per game for Minnesota.
This isn’t the first time O’Neal has criticized Gobert, however, and he’s talked about “Rudy Gobert money” in the past, saying he’d be making it now.
“Twelve points and eight rebounds? I could do that right now,” O’Neal said on his “Big Podcast” last March.
O’Neal isn’t the only person to criticize Gobert in the NBA, telling ESPN in April that he has accepted that he is someone who is hated in the league.
Shaquille O’Neal, left, called Minnesota Timberwolves great Rudy Gobert his worst NBA player of all time. (Getty Images)
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“It’s important to be able to have peace when you’re alone, when you don’t have music, when you don’t have noise. I think that’s inner peace. I think that once you have inner peace, you have peace almost everywhere.”
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