The off-season sniping between players and media members has been at an all-time high this off-season. Draymond Green has been running down analysts and former players like Skip Bayless and Kendrick Perkins through his podcast regularly. Kevin Durant has been in on the action too and went in on Shaquille O’Neal earlier today.
After Shaq made a comment on why former players get petty looking at players like Rudy Gobert receiving $250 million contracts, KD said that Shaq was hilarious for saying that because he is a billionaire now.
Shaq is not officially a billionaire but is known to be a very savvy investor with a lot of brand deals. He is definitely doing well, as indicated by the house he recently bought in Dallas, Texas. O’Neal decided to point out that he is not a billionaire to Durant, saying he was broke but always speaks facts. He also thanked KD for calling him hilarious.
i know i'm hillarious, and i'm not a billionaire i'm actually broke. but will always speak facts. thank you saying i'm funny means a lot
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) June 28, 2022
Shaq has clashed with Rudy Gobert many times previously over the contract extension he signed with the Utah Jazz. Gobert is one of the highest-paid players in the league despite his below-average ability to score the ball. He makes up for it by being one of the best defenders the game has ever seen, but Shaq still hasn’t liked the price point.
With the NBA growing rapidly, the salary cap grows bigger and players get entitled to better contracts. Durant is part of the current generation and signed a big-money extension himself last off-season that nets him nearly $50 million per season.
The older generation of players will always clash with the new generation. Durant was sticking up for all his peers with his comments, considering the previous clashes between old players in media and the contracts modern NBA players receive. Shaq will be fine with the money he has and so will Rudy and KD. As long as the sport keeps doing well, these contracts will only be more lucrative for future generations.
