“Dam Gina”: Shaquille O’Neal Reacts to Team USA’s Humbling Loss to Germany ‘Having Questioned their Worth’ Before the FIBA World Cup

Shaquille O’Neal was perhaps all the way right about his prediction of this year’s Team USA. What seemed like a formidable team of the Americans, after years, was ousted by the Germans in the FIBA World Cup semi-finals. Previously, Shaq had also questioned the worth of this USA team after the power rankings were revealed ahead of the World Cup tournament. It seems like the Big Aristotle is now having the last laugh, as he posted the scoreline of the team’s defeat in the tournament on Instagram.

Much of Team USA’s loss to Germany in the semifinals can be attributed to a lack of cohesion and underperforming stars like Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jalen Brunson. With a relatively young batch of players, the NBA community underestimated the star power of the team. Players such as Anthony Edwards and Austin Reaves showed flashes of brilliance, which prove their further potential as future stars.

Shaquille O’Neal tries ridiculing Team USA after a tough loss against Germany

Shaquille O’Neal just shared an Instagram post highlighting Team USA’s loss against Germany in the FIBA World Cup semifinals. The Americans lost 111-113 to the Germans, thus proving Shaq’s earlier assessment of the team’s worthiness.

Previously, much ahead of the tournament’s start, Shaq shared another post on his IG, questioning the current rankings of the USA team. As per the Big Diesel, the US basketball team of the 1990s decade was much more formidable and competitive, as compared to the latest group of players. Thus, Shaq’s intuition about the Americans was absolutely right. In his earlier post, Shaq wrote in the caption,

“What your gonna do about this Team USA. And are they still called the #DREAMTEAM?” 

Seems like Shaq is now having the last laugh with Team USA’s latest loss. In the caption highlighting the scoreline, Shaq wrote, “Dam Gina,” perhaps indicating he was right all along. However, he does not seem to be diminishing the potential of the players of the team.

Anthony Edwards and Austin Reaves had previously defeated the Germans in a last-minute 16-point comeback during an exhibition match prior to the World Cup. Perhaps, the Germans got their redemption against the Americans, in what many may regard as a crucial win.

Shaquille O’Neal had a decent international career with Team USA

Shaq’s tryst with the national team began in the 1994 FIBA World Championship. He was named the MVP of the Tournament, after displaying stellar performances throughout all the games. Though initially, Shaq wanted to be part of the original Dream Team, his 8-0 record with the Dream Team II was very much commendable for his worth as a player.

Though O’Neal displayed a similar 8-0 record in the 1996 Olympics, he was upset with Coach Lenny Wilkens for giving David Robinson more minutes than him. Furthermore, being overlooked for the 1999 FIBA AmeriCup squad was much stir to the pot for the Diesel. Since then, he declined to play further international competitions and stuck to only playing for his league franchise.