I have never understood how a person with this level of marbles in his mouth gets paid to talk about anything on TV. It sounds like he's choking on phlegm and I hit mute every time. Legit unpleasant imo. But I digress.
The main thing I'm trying to get at here is why does this man hate the NBA so much? And why does he think his hate is funny or entertaining? And why do we eat this stuff up and pretend it's good NBA coverage?
During an episode of “The Big Podcast” this week, O’Neal sat down with comedian Roy Wood Jr. and opened up on the state of basketball, which the Basketball Hall of Famer was not particularly keen on.
“People get mad. It’s just a product of what I’ve seen,” O’Neal said when asked about LeBron James’ longevity being tied to the change in physicality in the NBA. “I’ve seen what greatness is, been there, played with ’em. I don’t see that all the time over here. So, you want me to give these motherf–kers the same props you giving them? That s–t will never happen. You can call it hate if you want.”
And while O’Neal said he and fellow “Inside the NBA” panelist Charles Barkley have been criticized for calling out the modern game as compared to how things were played in the 1990s and early 2000s, O’Neal continued that the “product is s–t.”
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/shaq-says-ben-simmons-needs-172332604.html
More quotes from interview (I don't want to link the videos but they can be found here: https://x.com/bigpodwithshaq?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1908249108176830954%7Ctwgr%5E73deb9eb794a30e33fb2aed21190b0040c38df2c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsports.yahoo.com%2Fcollege-basketball%2Farticle%2Fcooper-flagg-duke-left-devastated-after-dream-season-turns-into-nightmare-with-stunning-final-four-collapse-065255978.html )...
Shaq says he’d make both Chet and Wemby “quit.”
Is this just to make him feel better about himself?
“I used to hate Luka until I seen him play. I’m like this mother******g white boy, alright.”
Why did he hate Luka until he watched him play? Is hate just the default setting here?
Shaq goes OFF on the current era, saying LeBron’s longevity is a byproduct of how soft the league has become. He also claims that many players today couldn’t compete in past eras—especially players like Ben Simmons, who he says should be arrested for stealing $250 million.
Who the f cares about Ben Simmons at this point? That's your example used to take down the entire league, in a league where Ben Simmons is an outlier?
“A lot of these mother******s can’t play and they know it. In any era they can’t f*****g play.”
He says a lot of NBA players can't play in any era. That is, I mean, huh?
...
People were upset when the NBA ended its contact with TNT. My question is how did TNT think the NBA wanted to pay them to brutally insult their sport and product nonstop? Shaq and Chuck openly brag about how they don't watch NBA games, but then turn around and insult NBA games at every opportunity.
I don't think coverage of other sports and athletes is this nasty. Why do we NBA fans, and the league and players, have to suffer through it?
