Shaq has long been critical of NBA big men and has once again taken aim at Rudy Gobert.
The big fella raised a lot of eyebrows when he questioned Gobert’s defensive abilities.
“I never thought he was a great defensive player,” Shaq said on his podcast this week. “See, what it is, there’s not a lot of centers that are making him play defense. Like, he’s not doing that s**t against Joker… He’s 7’6”, of course, if you lay it up, he’s going to block it. But defense to me is guard that guy and shut him down. You want to impress me? Hold Joker under 15 points. All that weakside shot blocking, that’s cool. But it’s not going to work against guys like me and Joker.”
Shaq then proceeded to laugh at Gobert’s basic stats.
“If I were 42, I’d be making Rudy Gobert money,” he said. “Twelve points and eight rebounds? I could do that s**t right now… making $250 million… averaging twelve points.”
It didn’t take long for the inevitable backlash to arrive, with social media flooded with people calling out Shaq’s comments.
Here’s just a little taste:
Shaq is evaluating Rudy Gobert as a defender based on the criteria we used when Shaq was a player. I think that cuts to the core of why a lot of older players have these ridiculous takes. They’re evaluating players through the lens of a league that no longer really exists. https://t.co/K3NdaBGJJz
— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) March 13, 2024
Rudy Gobert This year:
13.7 PPG
12.9 RPG
2.1 BPG
65 FG%
65 FT% (Would be Shaq’s Career High)
104.2 Defensive Rating (Leads NBA)
Anchors the best defense in the NBA.Disrespect needs to stop https://t.co/A5cpL8NGzg pic.twitter.com/NSXohbCzA7
— MNMuse (@statmusewolves) March 13, 2024
Shaq’s comments certainly are bizarre considering Gobert has the best individual rating of any player in the NBA this season. He currently anchors the best defence in the NBA and has previously won three Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Clearly, there is some personal hangup going on here for Shaq, who has a long history of bashing NBA big men.
After years of unfairly calling out Dwight Howard with nonsensical criticism, Gobert is well and truly his new favourite punching bag.
And if all the reactions online are anything to go by, a lot of people have had enough of Shaq’s mindless hating.
READ MORE: Shaq Recalls Wild Locker Room Fight Story From Heat Days