Shaquille O’Neal is one of the harshest critics of today’s NBA players, and he has once again ripped them. In a recent interview with USA Today, O’Neal claimed that the players lack love for the game and are only interested in making more money.
“I love the game, but I don’t think the current players love the game,” O’Neal said. “I think they love what they get out of the game. See, I didn’t play for money. I played to have my name with the gods. If you would’ve gave me $40,000 for 10 years, I still would have played.
“So, a lot of these guys want to make $200, $300 million, but they don’t give the fans what they deserve,” O’Neal added. “Shoot a 100 threes rather than going to the hole and tearing the rim down. So, I don’t think they love the game. They love what they can get out of the game.”
O’Neal is far from the only former player who thinks along these lines. Players wanting to make as much money as possible isn’t just a recent phenomenon, though. Even the ones who came before had that mindset, and O’Neal himself falls into that category. Sure, he gave the fans what they deserved with his play, but he certainly wouldn’t have been happy with a 10-year, $40,000 deal.
O’Neal once claimed he left the Los Angeles Lakers because the team asked him to take less money. He regrets that now, but he wanted to make as much as he could during his career.
Money also played a role in O’Neal leaving the Orlando Magic in 1996. He admitted he was jealous that Penny Hardaway got the deal he wanted but not him, and decided to test free agency. So, let’s not get it twisted here and act like money was an afterthought for players earlier.
As for whether today’s players don’t have the kind of love for the game that O’Neal had, well, you can make that argument. A lot of them don’t mind sitting out of games, while some start taking it easy after getting that big deal.
O’Neal recently blasted Ben Simmons, claiming he should be arrested for robbery. He is certainly irked by the fact that today’s players make so much more money than those who came before them.
Back in 2022, Kevin Durant claimed that Charles Barkley had a problem with him just because he can’t accept the fact that today’s players make more money than he did. Barkley didn’t respond to that, but O’Neal stated that former players are indeed angry about how much money the current ones make.
“Let me tell you something, do you think I’m happy Rudy Gobert is making 250 (million)?” O’Neal said. “So KD, you’re absolutely right. We’re mad because the way we played, we didn’t get that. You got these shooters shooting 22%, making 30 million.
“D-Scott (Dennis Scott) shot damn near 45 to 50% his whole career and the most he made was probably $7 million, so you damn right we get mad,” O’Neal added. “We get petty, and guess what? We have an opinion, and our opinion counts.”
Well, O’Neal and others are just going to get more and more upset with time. These contracts are only going to get bigger, and someone who they think is undeserving of a massive deal is going to get one, like Rudy Gobert did.
