Nikola Jokic has been far from his best in the Denver Nuggets‘ first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Much of the credit for Jokic’s struggles through three games has gone to Rudy Gobert, but Shaquille O’Neal isn’t giving him his flowers.
O’Neal has been Gobert’s most vocal critic, and Charles Barkley asked him to give the Frenchman some credit on Inside the NBA on Saturday.
“I got to give Rudy Gobert his flowers,” Barkley said. “… He’s earning that reputation. He’s guarding him mano a mano, and you got to give him his flowers, Shaquille. I know you and Rudy ain’t the best of friends.”
O’Neal, however, had no interest in doing that.
“Do you understand the law of averages?” O’Neal said. “Let me explain it to you. The Joker has dominated him a lot, right? So, he has one bad game, right? He has one bad game… Okay, two bad games. So, now you’re saying Rudy is shutting him down? That’s what you’re saying to me right now.”
Barkley said Gobert has indeed been shutting Jokic down, but O’Neal disagreed.
“Just because you miss a shot and have a bad game doesn’t mean the defense is shutting you down,” O’Neal said.
This is just hating at this point. Through three games, Jokic averaged 25.3 points, 14.3 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game while shooting 40.0% from the field and 20.8% from beyond the arc. The Serb had shot 56.9% from the field during the regular season, and Gobert has done very well against him.
Ernie Johnson brought up Jokic’s shooting percentages to drive home Barkley’s point, but O’Neal still refused to shower praise.
“When you’re a great player like Joker, like Chuck, even like Jalen [Rose], we don’t think people stop us,” O’Neal said. “We’re just off. We’re just having bad games… Rudy himself said, ‘Hey, I’m making it tough for him, I’m making it hard for him. I’m trying to be in his face every shot.’ And that’s all you could do.
“But when you’re a guy like Joker, you’re just missing shots,” O’Neal added. “I’m not going to sit up here and say that Rudy Gobert shut him down. I’m never going to say that.”
O’Neal has said his beef with Gobert is nothing personal. It sure doesn’t feel that way on a night like this.
O’Neal has even gone as far as to call Gobert the worst player in NBA history. The 54-year-old said players like him are making all this money, but can’t really play.
Now, Gobert is challenged offensively and can frustrate you immensely at times when you’re watching him play. Some of the past criticism of the four-time Defensive Player of the Year has been fair, but when you keep hounding him for his failings, it’s only fair that you praise him when he does well. O’Neal won’t do it, though.
It will be interesting to see if Gobert, who is averaging 9.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game through three games in this series, responds.
