Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t happy with the behavior of some Lakers players after they won the NBA championship. O’Neal won three titles with the Lakers from 2000 through 2002, taking home the Finals MVP award on each occasion. He knows what it’s like to be the go-to guy in a championship team and he wasn’t happy with the way some role players acted after LeBron James and Anthony Davis took them to the title.
During a recent edition of his ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq,’ O’Neal went off on some players, calling them out for acting like they were the stars of the team. He didn’t mention a specific name but made it clear that he wasn’t happy with what he saw a couple of weeks ago.
“You know what I don’t like as a player? It’s a lot of (Lakers) players on their little Instagram bragging like they were the reasons they got the championship. I ain’t gon’ say no names,” he said.
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Players like JR Smith, Quinn Cook and Dwight Howard all went to Instagram to celebrate with fans, popping champagne, joking and laughing after beating the Miami Heat in six games. Knowing that one of the players involved in these activities was Dwight Howard, whom Shaq has had a feud with for a couple of years now, it wouldn’t be crazy to assume he was referring to the big man.
“I know you know who I’m talking about. Stop it. Frontrunner. Bandwagon jumper. Stop it.” he added. “Post one pic and sit your a** down.”
Truth to be told, Howard did a great job helping the Lakers. He wasn’t always on the court given that the team had different needs at some points, but when he made it, he became an important presence for them in the paint. As for Cook and JR, they didn’t see a lot of minutes during the Finals, but they were part of the team and the victory is always collective.
