Shaquille O’Neal is a man accustomed to excellence. Given his resume, it isn’t that much of a surprise. Four NBA Championships, an MVP, the 1993 Rookie of the year, and several All-Star and All-NBA teams made makes for an amazing career.
Advertisement
As such, Big Diesel cannot stand mediocrity. Something, that he believes there is a lot of that going around in today’s NBA. And, unfortunately for the league, he isn’t shy about voicing his opinion.
In recent times, Shaq is known for being extremely critical of the modern player. Over the years, there have been many NBA superstars that have been on the receiving end of his jibes. Well, the most recent victim is Ben Simmons, and safe to say the Hall of Famer did not hold back.
Shaquille O’Neal criticizes Ben Simmons’ poor scoring in a recent Instagram story
In 2022, the Brooklyn Nets completed one of the biggest trades of the 2021-2022 season. The New York-based franchise traded James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons.
On paper, the trade looked like a dub for the Nets. Simmons was significantly younger than The Beard and had a much bigger upside. However, a year removed from the trade and opinions have shifted drastically.
Big Ben has been in horrendous form, only scoring a measly 291 points since joining the Nets. Something, that Shaquille O’Neal made note of in a recent Instagram story. The Big Aristotle took shots at Simmons, by comparing the Australian’s offensive performance to that of new acquisition, Mikal Bridges who scored a whole 101 points more than Ben, just in the month of March.
Safe to say, opposing fans are having a good laugh about this statistic, Shaq sure is. And, if history is anything to go by, this probably won’t be the last time the big man targets his fellow LSU alumni. After all, Shaq is notorious for picking on and bullying players he doesn’t believe are at his level.
Shaq made headlines for constantly bullying the likes of Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee
Ben Simmons aside, Shaquille O’Neal is no stranger to bullying NBA players. The 7’1″ giant has called out several NBA superstars, both back in his playing days and now, as an NBA analyst. In particular, Dwight Howard, and JaVale McGee have been the victims of Shaq, to the point where both have gone on record criticizing him for it.
Shaq definitely needs to learn how to pull back on his punches. But, at the end of the day, there can be no denying that the big man sure knows how to keep the fans engaged, even if he isn’t schooling players on the court.
