Big Ru responds to Shaq’s “worst player” comment: “It is sad”

[shotsquatch]

Childhood abuse leads to problems that persist throughout your life. Abuse during your formative years isn't something you grow out of.

I'm not using it as an excuse for his behavior. It's just an explanation I rarely see mentioned.

Right. It's an explanation. Everyone has explanations, but they matter only so much. Shaq's had it pretty good for a long time now. He's had the space and opportunity to grow and heal. He has not. He continues to take it out on others, and hasn't really grown his own knowledge or understanding of the game, etc. So no one really cares in the context of his quotes over other NBA players, because he's still just a dick. His history is sad, but there is a point where no one cares to hear about it anymore because it is just that, an explanation and not an excuse.

Excuses deflect responsibility. Explanations provide context.

The context of Shaq's childhood helps explain why he has a fragile ego and pathological need to criticize anyone he perceives as a threat. I find it hard to blame him for his behavior, since it seems rooted in childhood trauma.

[tsherkin]

Excuses deflect responsibility. Explanations provide context.

Context is irrelevant in the absence of change, though.

I get that you find it hard to blame him. That's fine, and makes plenty of sense. But at some point, he's still just a jackass. It's sad that he never grew beyond that as things altered for him, and it's worse that he had to deal with it in the first place... but that's it. That's the end of that. He continues to be a dick, and that's main interface for many with him at this point. You can all but guarantee he'll have something salty and immature and insecure to say about bigs. And that's just wearisome after a time. And it has been quite some time now.

Like, I hope he finds the support he needs to mend. In the interim, however, I wish he would just STFU about big men.

[Tomtolbert]

Shaq is lucky he landed the TNT gig, where the rest of the crew can (at times) bring out the not so negative aspects of his personality.

[TheHartBreakKid]

Gobert is 100% right here imo, and I like that response.

And I’m saying this despite not being a fan of gobert at all, neither as a player or his persona, while being a big fan of Shaq overall.

[Nate505]

A bitter old man

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What an absolute baby. I'm sure he would have been mature if Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain would have complained about the salary he made.

[zzaj]

Regardless of just being plain wrong, it just makes me sad to see Shaq go for the hot-take. It's a very stupid question.

Rudy is a better defender than Shaq, so maybe he's just jealous.

[whatisacenter]

who the hell calls Gobert, "Big Ru"?

[og15]

A bitter old man

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What an absolute baby. I'm sure he would have been mature if Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain would have complained about the salary he made.

Is there a narrative that Gobert doesn't play hard? I don't get it. Lumping in Gobert with Ben Simmons is very odd too (though Simmons did have injury). It's not like Gobert is Larry Sanders or Andrew Bynum, is he not playing hard?

What does Shaq want playing hard to look like for him? Pushing people if they dunk on him?

[Klomp]

Is there a narrative that Gobert doesn't play hard? I don't get it. Lumping in Gobert with Ben Simmons is very odd too (though Simmons did have injury). It's not like Gobert is Larry Sanders or Andrew Bynum, is he not playing hard?

What does Shaq want playing hard to look like for him? Pushing people if they dunk on him?

The only correlation between the two of them I can see is their limited offensive game.

I guess Shaq is a firm believer that if you have a clear weakness in your offensive game *cough* free throws *cough*, you don't play hard.

[Wallace_Wallace]

I don't think he's a bad defender. But unfortunately, there were too many lowlight tapes of Gobert getting crossed by Curry/Harden, Clippers mounting that comeback with him getting blown by numerous times and this past season with Jokic/Doncic having iconic moments with him in the picture. A bulk of it are not his fault, but lowlights stick out so much more than the highlights. There's not a lot of "highlight tapes" of Gobert in general, maybe due to lack of fanbase?

Take my favorite player, Ben Wallace, for example. You search him on YouTube, you would probably see highlights with ferocious blocks to the 3rd row, pinning Shaq's dunk, etc. Most would only remember that. To be honest, I'm getting old, these were some of my favorite moments and I have this nostalgic feeling as I'm typing this. I also remember Yao Ming jammed it on him in the post.....but who cares, he was a post defender to pour his heart out every game.

Also, there is probably a decent amount of people who would say someone like Jamal Crawford is better Derrick White (for example) strictly due to highlights.

You don’t think one of the greatest defensive players in NBA history is a bad defender? This what social media and taking singular plays out of tens of thousands does to casuals.

Congrats, you can read 7 words at a time! I might be a casual, but I’m not exactly dealing with a scholar myself

[EArl]

I loved Shaq on the Lakers as a player and person, but once he retired he's gotten older and he's still very immature and petty.

[iLLmatic860]

we really calling him big ru???

sorry but be original, Big Ragu is taken

[homecourtloss]

I don't think he's a bad defender. But unfortunately, there were too many lowlight tapes of Gobert getting crossed by Curry/Harden, Clippers mounting that comeback with him getting blown by numerous times and this past season with Jokic/Doncic having iconic moments with him in the picture. A bulk of it are not his fault, but lowlights stick out so much more than the highlights. There's not a lot of "highlight tapes" of Gobert in general, maybe due to lack of fanbase?

Take my favorite player, Ben Wallace, for example. You search him on YouTube, you would probably see highlights with ferocious blocks to the 3rd row, pinning Shaq's dunk, etc. Most would only remember that. To be honest, I'm getting old, these were some of my favorite moments and I have this nostalgic feeling as I'm typing this. I also remember Yao Ming jammed it on him in the post.....but who cares, he was a post defender to pour his heart out every game.

Also, there is probably a decent amount of people who would say someone like Jamal Crawford is better Derrick White (for example) strictly due to highlights.

You don’t think one of the greatest defensive players in NBA history is a bad defender? This what social media and taking singular plays out of tens of thousands does to casuals.

Congrats, you can read 7 words at a time! I might be a casual, but I’m not exactly dealing with a scholar myself

Only casuals base anything off of “highlights.”

“Not a bad defender…”

[azcatz11]

The players don't respect Gobert. If he was making $10M a year it wouldn't matter but they see a foreign dude whose a scrub on offense about to be worth $300M. Shaq basically nailed how all the players feel about him.

[Klomp]

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[The KnicksFix]

Shaq and Chuck have shown their inability to not only be objective analysts, but have no understanding of the game whatsoever. They hate on teams and players just for clicks, but get proven time and time again of how wrong they are.

[Tracymcgoaty]

Regardless of just being plain wrong, it just makes me sad to see Shaq go for the hot-take. It's a very stupid question.

Rudy is a better defender than Shaq, so maybe he's just jealous.

Shaq is a big baby but there is literally not a **** thing he'd be jealous of when it comes to Goberts skillset.

He might be salty because of the money being earned by Centers who are lets be honest...NOT ALL THAT SPECIAL!

I get where he is coming from as a player. Gobert isn't good enough to shine Shaqs shoes...And 100% Shaq feels the same way. He just cant let it go.

[Tracymcgoaty]

Is there a narrative that Gobert doesn't play hard? I don't get it. Lumping in Gobert with Ben Simmons is very odd too (though Simmons did have injury). It's not like Gobert is Larry Sanders or Andrew Bynum, is he not playing hard?

What does Shaq want playing hard to look like for him? Pushing people if they dunk on him?

The only correlation between the two of them I can see is their limited offensive game.

I guess Shaq is a firm believer that if you have a clear weakness in your offensive game *cough* free throws *cough*, you don't play hard.

Shaq in fact doesn't respect Centers who have zero postgame or ability to score. Gobert fits that like a glove. There is no bigger frustration than watching gobert try to score from the post.

He's great at being a rim protector.

[og15]

Is there a narrative that Gobert doesn't play hard? I don't get it. Lumping in Gobert with Ben Simmons is very odd too (though Simmons did have injury). It's not like Gobert is Larry Sanders or Andrew Bynum, is he not playing hard?

What does Shaq want playing hard to look like for him? Pushing people if they dunk on him?

The only correlation between the two of them I can see is their limited offensive game.

I guess Shaq is a firm believer that if you have a clear weakness in your offensive game *cough* free throws *cough*, you don't play hard.

Shaq in fact doesn't respect Centers who have zero postgame or ability to score. Gobert fits that like a glove. There is no bigger frustration than watching gobert try to score from the post.

He's great at being a rim protector.

Okay, and Gobert rarely every tries to do things on offense outside of his skillset. I know Shaq is not some "intellectual" or something, but you don't need to be one to understand that not everyone has the same body type, mechanics, coordination, touch, etc. Gobert's lack of offense isn't because he never tried to get better there, it's simply because he does not have the tools to be a good offensive player at the highest level of basketball. If he didn't try he wouldn't be this good on defense, he was not this good on defense his first seasons.

A guy like Shaq calling him out because of that just makes it seem like Shaq doesn't actually understand how basketball talent works (that's not necessarily an abnormal thing among some former players). Shaq probably just thinks, "if he tries harder in practice or training he would be better". It's just like the people who think the difference between Curry and other players is that Curry just practices shooting more than everyone else lol

Shaq's mentality is actually damaging to future players, because you might have a guy trying to play outside of his skills (eg: Dwight) just to prove something that in reality he shouldn't be trying to prove. Shaq is not actually helping anyone with the way he talks about these C's.

[Klomp]

Okay, and Gobert rarely every tries to do things on offense outside of his skillset. I know Shaq is not some "intellectual" or something, but you don't need to be one to understand that not everyone has the same body, coordination, touch, etc. Gobert's lack of offense isn't because he never tried to get better there, it's simply because he does not have the tools to be a good offensive player at the highest level of basketball. If he didn't try he wouldn't be this good on defense, he was not this good on defense his first seasons.

A guy like Shaq calling him out because of that just makes it seem like Shaq doesn't actually understand how basketball talent works (that's not necessarily an abnormal thing among some former players). Shaq probably just thinks, "if he tries harder in practice or training he would be better". It's just like the people who think the difference between Curry and other players is that Curry just practices shooting more than everyone else lol

Shaq's mentality is actually damaging to future players, because you might have a guy trying to play outside of his skills (eg: Dwight) just to prove something that in reality he shouldn't be trying to prove. Shaq is not actually helping anyone with the way he talks about these C's.

It bothers me too that Shaq and UD were running with a narrative that a DPOY doesn't need help. Like WTF?

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