Well, it’s nothing new to see Shaquille O’Neal making the most of his platform to bash today’s players. For some reason, Shaq feels entitled of calling out players straight to their faces, perhaps thinking that they won’t fire back at him because he’s an NBA legend.
Nonetheless, it seems like Shaq has lost that legendary status among his younger colleagues. First, JaVale McGee got into his face for constantly mocking him, then Dwight Howard completely ignored his takes, later James Harden called him out on Instagram, and now, Donovan Mitchell seemed completely unfazed by his criticism.
Shaq talked to Mitchell following the Utah Jazz’ win over the New Orleans Pelicans, claiming that he doesn’t have what it takes to get to the next level:
“I said tonight that you are one of my favorite players, but you don’t have what it takes to get to the next level. I said it on purpose because I wanted you to hear it. What do you have to say about that” O’Neal told Donovan.
Spida, however, simply said: ‘A’ight, I’ve been hearing that since my rookie year’.
Right after, Donovan Mitchell took to Instagram to fire back at the critics, simply smiling and caption the post ‘#GreatTeamWin’ to let Shaq and everybody else know that they can’t get to him.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKVuJ_JAu9c
Mitchell has proven to be a tough-minded guy ever since he stepped foot on an NBA hardwood. He went from being a barely-known prospect to actually leading a franchise despite being just a kid, which is remarkable.
Perhaps Shaq is just trying to motivate him because of the potential he sees in him. But maybe, just maybe, an NBA player doesn’t need a legend calling them out in public to be motivated. If they need anything else to bring their A-Game besides their competitiveness, maybe this isn’t the business for them.
