Shaquille O'Neal doubles down on ruthless Rudy Gobert comments

09/19/2024 04:36 PM

In a recent episode of The Big Podcast With Shaq, Shaquille O’Neal doubled down on his already harsh comments about Rudy Gobert. O’Neal isn’t one to mince words about modern day big man, as he’s made his thoughts known on JaValle McGee, Joel Embiid and even Nikola Jokić as he won his third MVP this past season. But, O’Neal has made it a point to go after Rudy Gobert, intensifying his criticisms in August.

In an interview with Complex, Shaq was asked who the Worst NBA Player of All-Time was. He quickly, and surprisingly, answered Rudy Gobert.

"Rudy Gobert [is the worst]," O’Neal said. "If you sign a contract for 250 [million dollars], show me 250. There’s a reason why I walk funny and I can’t turn my neck and why I can’t do it because I played for my 120 [million dollars]. So you got guys like him that f**k the system over. They make all this money and they can’t f**king play, so I don’t respect guys like that. Every time I make these comments, people think I’m hating, but these are facts. You’ve got teachers, you’ve got firemen, you’ve got doctors who have real jobs and don’t get paid s**t."

Gobert responded to O’Neal’s comments earlier this month in a quote tweet of the video by Legion Hoops on X, saying, “It is sad to see someone that has accomplished as much as you did @SHAQ both in sport and business still be triggered by another man's finances and accomplishments get the entertainment part but unlike other folks, you don't need that stuff to stay relevant."

"When I made the comments about Rudy Gobert… Yeah, it is personal… David Robinson, who only made $116M… Kareem[Abdul-Jabbar], most he ever made was $3M… I paved the way for y’all. You’re making [$200M]. Play hard.”

— Shaq

(via @bigpodwithshaq)pic.twitter.com/CsGm9eHavw

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 19, 2024

O’Neal clearly wasn’t a fan of Gobert’s response, leading him to bring up the topic again on his podcast.

“For example, with the Rudy Gobert, y’all think I’m being personal. I’m just trying to pump him up. But obviously with his, his, the way he responds, I could tell, he see that there’s some truth in what I’m saying,” he said on his podcast. “David Robinson, who only made $116M… Kareem[Abdul-Jabbar], most he ever made was $3M… I paved the way for y’all. You’re making [$200M]. Play hard.”

Although Gobert isn’t an offensive weapon, he is certainly a defensive gamechanger. Gobert, the 2023-2024 Defensive Player of the Year, anchored a fearsome Timberwolves defense that finished the year as the best in the NBA. Gobert finished sixth blocked shots, first in defensive win shares and individual defensive rating. He finished the season averaging obert averaged 14.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 66.1 percent from the field.

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