Former Los Angeles Lakers superstar and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is never shy about voicing his opinions, even if they may cause some to cringe. That’s often exactly what his words do to the basketball world.
Recently, he was asked He picked Rudy Gobert, who he said is the worst NBA player of all time, and Ben Simmons was cited as one of the best. The center said he picked Gobert because Gobert has yet to earn the contract he signed.
“If you sign a contract for 250 [million]“Show me 250,” O’Neal said. “There’s a reason why I walk funny, why I can’t turn my neck and why I can’t do it because I played for my 120 [million]. So you have guys like him who [expletive] the system over there makes all this money and they can’t [expletive] play.”
In late 2020, Gobert signed a five-year, $205 million contract extension, and in the summer of 2022, he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for five players and five first-round draft picks. Although the Timberwolves reached the Western Conference Finals last season, many criticized Gobert for being a bit of a liability come playoff time due to his limitations on both ends of the floor.
The French native responded to O’Neal on social networks with a little diplomacy.
“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.”
O’Neal, who won three straight NBA titles alongside the late Kobe Bryant on the Lakers, has a history of throwing shade at some of the big men of that era, including Dwight Howard, who played three times with the Purple and Gold. At the same time, during O’Neal’s early years in Los Angeles, he was criticized by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain, two other great Lakers centers, perhaps part of a franchise tradition.
This article was originally published on LeBron Wire: Shaquille O’Neal Violently Criticizes Rudy Gobert; Gobert Responds