Shaquille O’Neal has shown his support to Zion Williamson, who is expected to become one of the faces of the NBA in the future. The New Orleans Pelicans sophomore is having a very good season, having less attention than last season but improving his level under Stan Van Gundy.
The player is becoming a superstar and is drawing some comparisons around the league, even to Shaquille O’Neal, one of the most dominant players the association has seen. Shaq was recently inquired about this and contrary to what a lot of people could believe, he was very polite and encouraging when talking about the former Duke player. The Big Diesel said that comparisons shouldn’t affect Zion, as he has the talent to be even better than him (8:00 mark).
“It’s a, wouldn’t say it’s dishonor. But, it’s that, when you get compared to the greats. People see something in you. Now, I was taught that being great is about being super consistent. Whenever I had two or three bad games in a row, I would get the call from the board, ‘hey man, what you’re doing? Great guys don’t do this, Kareem never had to be like.’ So, it should be out. He’s putting up good numbers, he’s playing hard, he’s playing well. I don’t think he should look at it as a disservice… He can possibly be better.”
O’Neal also added that it’s good that Zion has someone to look up to. He had a similar approach when he made it to the league, trying to be better than Wilt Chamberlain, as he explained.
“I was going after one guy, Wilt Chamberlain, I wanted to break all his records. I beat him in championships, I wanted to beat him in points. So, I was going to arrogantly say, I’m Shaquille O’Neal, I’m the most dominant player ever.”
Zion is on his way to becoming a global superstar. He’s meeting the expectations about him and perhaps in a couple of years, we’ll see him and his Pelicans competing in the Western Conference. He has the tools to be great and he’s managing himself the best way. The 20-year-old is making the right steps to become the best player in the league, even getting his first signature shoe with Jordan Brand.
The future is bright for this kid and Shaq knows we could be watching an all-time player in Williamson.
