“MJ Was the Most Competitive, LeBron James Is the Best All Around”: Shaquille O’Neal Pushes for a Positive Approach to Basketball Discourse

Shaquille O’Neal is an avid social media user. Apart from using different platforms to share hilarious photos and videos of himself, the Los Angeles Lakers legend also shares his opinions. This time, Shaq shared something different on his Instagram Story. Wanting to put an end to the social media toxicity, Shaquille O’Neal shared an Instagram post that urged all fans to appreciate every player’s greatness.

Trying to put an end to all ongoing debates, the post implied that Michael Jordan was the most competitive while LeBron James is the best all-around player. While Kobe Bryant was referred to as the “hardest-working” player, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were labeled as the “best shooter” and “most-skilled scorer”, respectively.

MJ was the most competitive

LeBron is the best all-round

Kobe was the hardest-working

KD is the most-skilled scorer

Curry is the best shooter

Notice how I appreciated all of them without dissing any of the others?

Shaq wants basketball discourse to be more positive pic.twitter.com/JzNU2TI9XX

— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) December 8, 2023

Shaquille O’Neal has been one of the top analysts for over a decade. While he’s requesting all fans to be more polite towards players, there have been a few occasions where he did showcase some level of hypocrisy.

Shaquille O’Neal himself hasn’t been peaceful

Today, Shaquille O’Neal has been endorsing peaceful basketball discussions. However, eight years ago, Shaq ripped apart Scottie Pippen… in a not-so-peaceful manner.

“When Mike left, you didn’t do nothing. The only thing you did was cry and whine when Phil didn’t give you the last shot. He gave it to Toni Kukoc, who was a much better player than you,” Shaq exclaimed.

The GOAT debate is one conversation that O’Neal always indulges himself in. While he didn’t explicitly pick Michael Jordan as his pick for the GOAT debate, Shaq’s Instagram activity can confirm the same. A couple of months ago, “Superman” shared a long list of 21 reasons that stated why MJ was the GOAT.

Shaq still on the MJ GOAT train pic.twitter.com/0TKfmLwWTQ

— NewsMan (@WhenInDoubt4242) July 29, 2023

While he considers His Airness as the GOAT, Shaq asked LeBron James about his opinion on the infamous debate right after the latter broke the NBA’s scoring record. Even though Bron was hesitant at the beginning to take his name outright, Shaq pushed the power forward to say it out loud. Of course, Bron considered himself as the rightful owner of the GOAT title.