Amid Recent Backlash Towards Shaquille O’Neal, Kyrie Irving Is ‘Sick Of’ Older Players Bringing Up Money To Berate Young Stars

Joseph Galizia | 23/03/2025
Shaquille O'Neal (L), Kyrie Irving (R)

Kyrie Irving is “sick” of older players talking trash about the current NBA product. The hate has been a common thread for a while now for former legends of the game, who tend to pin-point and create a micro-aggression about every little aspect of the league’s current stars. Irving addressed the topic head-on during his most recent Twitch stream, and he was not shy of putting the so-called legends on blast.

While Kyrie never addressed anyone by name, Shaquille O’Neal is the first to come to mind regarding the constant criticism of this younger generation of players. The Diesel tends to go viral every day for spewing some nonsense that he himself would fight back against when he was a rookie in Orlando.

Shaq’s most infamous rant was about Wolves star Rudy Gobert, who claimed the Frenchman was the “worst player he’d ever seen” and “not worth the money” he made over the last ten years in the league. It’s chatter like this that has pissed Kyrie off.

“All you do is hate on the younger players,” claimed Kyrie. “You got young players looking up to these older players, we looked up to them. We valued their journeys. We respected their journeys.” 

The respect doesn’t go both ways though, a point that Irving drove home after mentioning how his generation gets blasted and told to “get over it because they make a bunch of money.” “I’m so sick of that f***ing excuse bro,” he admitted.

Kyrie’s points are hard to argue against. The media landscape is filled with former players, some of whom don’t have close to the same accolades as Shaq, yet still constantly slice through every single breathing moment of the league with negativity.

It is unknown whether that’s because they are jealous of the success or prideful that their greatness will never be achieved. However, what is known is that each generation tends to get further ridiculed for something. This is a commonality amongst things outside of basketball as well but in the NBA?

It makes sense why Kyrie and company would be hurt since the game was supposed to unite them, not separate them.

Shaquille O’Neal believes his criticism will make players better

Shaq is a man who gives out tough love, whether the person wants it or not. The Diesel addressed his new moniker of being a “hater” during a recent episode of his Big Podcast. He and co-host Adam Lefkoe spoke about his harsh words towards big men, a mantle he felt entitled to take considering he was the president of the “Big Men Alliance.”

During their chat, Diesel stated that those he speaks ill about “get sensitive” about his words, then go complain about him on their podcasts. “It takes away from what I’m really trying to do,” he claimed. Lefkoe asked him about potentially messaging players he talks poorly about on the side so they know he’s doing it out of love.

“Why? Kareem didn’t message me on the side, it just made me become greater,” said the four-time NBA Champion. Shaq then thanked Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Hakeem Olajuwon, and other big men for inspiring him to get better by making him believe he “wouldn’t make it.”

It’s a tricky game that Shaq is playing. His intentions deep down may be good, but the era of tough love doesn’t seem to be as easy to spot in 2025 as it was in the mid-90s when he was cutting his teeth. Hopefully, someone will one day thank him for his contributions or humble him for his methods.

Post Edited By: Sameen Nawathe
kyrie irving Shaquille O'Neal

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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