Shaquille O’Neal has developed a reputation since retiring of being pretty hard on centers in today’s NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers legend has high expectations for big men and does not mince his words, having no problems saying exactly how he feels.
In an interview with Rich Kleiman of Boardroom, O’Neal was asked if he misses playing in the NBA and the big man gave a very succinct answer, while using a creative name to describe today’s centers:
“No, never. Not against these cupcakes… They’re all cupcakes. Write it down, tweet it, Instagram it, Facebook, and I said it.”
O’Neal did not mince his words and even doubled down on them, wanting all of the league’s bigs to see what he said and know he meant it. O’Neal doesn’t harbor any hatred towards these guys, but this is likely his way of trying to motivate them to be as dominant as they are capable of as he has regularly gotten angry at potentially dominant centers failing to reach their potential.
There are certainly a couple of bigs in today’s game whom O’Neal has shown great love and appreciation for. Most notable is three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver, Nuggets who O’Neal proclaimed had gotten himself into the room alongside the other all-time great bigs such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Hakeem Olajuwon. O’Neal has also shown love to San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama, while also still urging him to be more dominant in the paint instead of drifting to the perimeter.
It can’t be argued that none of today’s centers would be able to handle O’Neal at his peak, although that can be said of any era of bigs. Only Wilt Chamberlain and, perhaps a fully healthy Joel Embiid come close to matching the size, athleticism and ferocity of the Lakers legend. O’Neal wants to see the league return to being ran by big men as it used to be in earlier eras and he will poke at all of them until that happens.
Shaquille O’Neal reveals advice from Magic Johnson
In addition to being the most dominant force the NBA has ever witnessed, O’Neal also has developed one of the most visible brands of any athlete off the court. This was not by accident as he revealed that fellow Lakers icon Magic Johnson told him to focus on the business side of things.
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