4 Months After Defending Rudy Gobert Amidst A $25,000 Fine, Shaquille O’Neal Pokes Fun At Him Going From ‘Wanting Gold’ To ‘Eliminated’

After losing back-to-back games in the FIBA World Cup, France has been officially eliminated from medal contention. In the two games played in the World Cup, Rudy Gobert hasn’t been much more than a running figure on the court and has had minimal impact. Shaquille O’Neal for one, has been critical of Gobert ever since he signed a significant contract extension with the Utah Jazz before he moved to the Timberwolves. After France’s elimination from the World Cup, Shaq posted an image by Clutchpoints where Gobert had stated that his goal was to win the Gold Medal at the World Cup.

Shaq has been critical of Gobert’s game but came to Gobert’s aid when he was fined $25000 for commenting against the refs by reposting a post on his IG account.

It cannot be concluded that the Big Diesel is in aid of Gobert, but this might be the first time he has posted something about Rudy that does not criticize him, his contract, or his playing style.

Shaq Reacts on Gobert’s Comments before the FIBA World Cup.

Gobert scored 17 points and 16 rebounds in two games in the FIBA World Cup before getting eliminated from medal contention. Gobert had one goal before coming to the competition: winning it all with the National Team. However, the roster fell short of achieving its goal and got eliminated by lowly Latvia, a team that didn’t even have Kristaps Porzingis on the floor. Shaq immediately chipped into the banter by posting the following. Take a look at the tweet by tragicpatek.

France was one of the medal favorites in the eyes of many basketball fans en route to the World Cup. However, as fate had its say, the No.5 ranked team could not even make it out of the 1st round of the tournament. The squad had players like Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, and Nicolas Batum, yet still lost to Latvia and were eliminated from the competition.

Rudy Gobert was expected to lead the squad to a Top 3 finish, but scorelines of nine points and seven rebounds against 29th ranked Latvia, who were playing without their star player Kristaps Porzingis, and eight points and nine rebounds against Canada, fell well below expectations.

Big Men Shooting beyond the arc, Shaq points out that the NBA is getting soft!

Shaq shared a video on his Instagram story from a creator named ogdabeast_sports where Gobert is seen shooting threes. The creator states that Rudy is shooting threes to be relevant to the modern gameplay,

“Do you wanna know why this league and this era is soft? Because all the big men are beyond the arc trying to learn how to shoot the 3ball just to maintain relevancy because their job would be taken by somebody who can do [just that]…He should be in the paint, one of the best defenders in this era in the post…this is disgusting to me,” the creator said.

According to Shaq, the Centers are expected to play bully ball in the paint, and rim protectors like Rudy Gobert are expected to focus on their game around the rim and not shoot threes. However, the league is adapting to centers’ shooting threes, with the current Finals MVP Nikola Jokic, Regular Season MVP Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jaren Jackson Jr., among others.

Shaq has maintained his stance on being successful in the current playing style and would back Giannis Antetokounmpo and his game style, as it resonates with him and how he played the game.