Shaquille O’Neal has earned a reputation for ‘attacking’ modern-day NBA stars that fail to deliver for their teams. Yet, the Big Diesel is often proven right, as these players don’t live up to the expectations created around them, disappointing fans after Shaq called them out.
Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, Ben Simmons, Rudy Gobert, and Donovan Mitchell are just a couple of players who have received criticism from Shaq, as the 4x NBA champion wants them to step up their game and show what they’re made of, although some of them haven’t proven Shaq wrong.
During a recent edition of his The Big Podcast with Shaq, O’Neal once again unleashed against modern-day players, calling them ‘buttercups’, claiming he would have destroyed them if he played in today’s league. Talking about the changes of rules the league has made in recent years, O’Neal had this to say (11:30):
“I think it’s hurting the game. It’s an old saying, ‘if it’s not broke, do not fix it.’ I think guys are more athletic, more talented, have far more shooting range, but I think a lot of times these rule changes because people are complaining. Like when I was in the league, ‘he’s standing in too long, three seconds, three seconds, let’s change the rule.’ ‘Ok, in order to get them out, we’ll allow you to front them and back them, we’ll allow you to hack’, it’s just a lot of guys complaining and whining rather than just playing the game.”
“I’m glad I’m mentioned in the original aliens of this earth. It’s a lot of guys being mentioned now and only a few you can pick from this dimension and bring them in, like LeBron, Steph, guys like that, but I’m mentioned with the old aliens. People are always like, ‘oh you hate me.’ It’s not that I’m hating, I wish I was playing with these buttercups right now. I wish I was. I promise you I wish I was playing. It’ll be a slaughterhouse out there.”
O’Neal has always been confident in his chances against today’s stars. He knows things would have been pretty easy for him if he showed the dominance he showed during his prime. The Los Angeles Lakers legend isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and this time wasn’t the exception. You can agree or disagree with that, but he’s not changing the way he’s thinking, especially after so many players proved him right.
