12 Years Before Confessing Feeling Jealous With LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal Enviously Commented on 6ft 9″ Superstar’s ‘Chiselled Body’: “Look Like He-Man”

LA Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal has confessed multiple times that he held professional jealousy toward LeBron James. While the two are counted among the greatest players of all time, LeBron is an obvious candidate for the GOAT status, while O’Neal, is often left out of that conversation. Speaking on the “I Am Athlete” podcast around three months ago, Shaq talked about his envy towards James, claiming that he also wanted to be part of the GOAT conversation. His recent comments reiterate opinions that have been apparent since long before. In his book from 12 years ago, Shaq Uncut, O’Neal suggested that he was envious of the chiseled bodies that the likes of 6ft 9″ LeBron, Kobe, and Dwayne Wade had.

While O’Neal is a 2-time Finals MVP and won the NBA 4 times, he appears to have a few regrets about his career. In recent years, he has often questioned his non-inclusion in the GOAT debate, as well as the “disrespect” he thinks is often levied against his former teammate Kobe Bryant. Shaq might be counted as one of the most dominant players to ever play in the NBA. However, quite a few people believe that while he had the talent to be the greatest ever, he lacked the kind of determination the likes of Jordan, Kobe, and LeBron have.

Shaquille O’Neal says he is jealous of LeBron James

When LeBron broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record against OKC Thunder last season, Shaq had tried to make him proclaim himself as the GOAT. However, LeBron humbly replied that that was a decision that he wanted to leave for everybody else.

During his appearance on the podcast, O’Neal explained what he would do in James’ shoes. He said that he would have proclaimed himself as the GOAT. Shaq explained that his question itself was a result of professional jealousy:

“I was jealous of LeBron James at that moment. It was professional jealousy. I wish that was me. I know what I would’ve said – ‘I’m the greatest.”

At the same time, LeBron’s scoring achievement is not all that Shaq seems to be jealous of. In his 2011-released book Shaq Uncut, O’Neal talked about LeBron’s chiseled body:

“Some guys are what I call natural salad eaters. Kobe, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, they’re salad eaters. Their bodies are fabulous, chiseled. I don’t know what they eat but they look like he-man dawgs. It’s a genetic gift. Then you look at guys like me, Zach Randolph, Kevin Love. We don’t have those bodies, but we’re still going to do magical things.”

There is little doubt that Shaq is a bonafide legend in his own right. However, there does appear to be some sort of envy that he has always had for LeBron James.

O’Neal and LeBron James played together for 1 solitary season

The envy that Shaq holds, at the same time, appears to be strictly professional. When O’Neal joined the Cavaliers in 2009, he proclaimed his aim was to win a “ring for the king.” Referring obviously to LeBron James, according to Bleacher Report.

However, Shaquille O’Neal ended up getting injured in February and didn’t return until the first round of Playoffs. The Cavaliers were knocked out in round 2 by the Boston Celtics. Shaq ended up proclaiming that he was sure they would have won the championship had he been fully fit.

imagine a prime lebron and shaq on the Cavaliers in 2009/2010 pic.twitter.com/J9kWOycmaX

— HEARTBREAK KID 💔 (@htxmeek) May 21, 2021

At the same time, he averaged career lows in almost all categories. He was basically a role player at the age of 37. There is little doubt that things would have been different if he was in his prime. However, Shaq ended up at the Celtics after just a season.