“DeMar DeRozan is playing great but he’s not the best player in the world!”: Shaquille O’Neal gets in a heated discussion with Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley over the MVP race

The 2022 MVP conversation leaves Shaquille O’Neal mad over Kenny “the Jet” Smith for calling DeMar DeRozan one of the best players in the NBA.

The MVP race of the 2022 season is going to be as nail-biting contest as it has ever been. From Stephen Curry to Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo to DeMar DeRozan everyone is giving a tough fight to Nikola Jokic who defends his crown.

The last year’s reigning MVP is having an even more dominant season, but with Embiid being the top scorer in the league and DeRozan’s resurgence as the most clutch player, it will go down to the wire.

As close as that race gets the more reactions it will get from the NBA community. And who gives a better reaction to any basketball matter than the multiple Sports Emmy Award-winning panel of Turner Sports.

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“DeMar DeRozan is not the best player in the world”: Shaquille O’Neal

This year’s NBA All-Star Weekend festivities will be held in Cleveland later this week. TNT’s “NBA Tip-Off” show aired live from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday.

Talking about who they think should be leading the MVP race, Shaquille O’Neal went off on Kenny Smith for saying DeMar DeRozan is in the conversation for the best player in the world.

Although clearly, the Jet did not call the Bulls MVP The Best player in the league, Shaq with his usually loud alpha-male voice left the poor man speechless for no reason.

And even if he did so, it wouldn’t be as absurd as how Shaq’s reaction suggested it to be. The man has kept the Bulls as the top seed in the East alongside Miami Heat with a 38-21 record.

Although Embiid has taken a slight edge over Giannis after Thursday’s clash where the former had a 42-14-5 game in response to the 2021 Finals MVP’s 32-11-9, his Sixers still do not have a better record than the Bulls.

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Shaq’s love for big players like himself is no secret to anyone, but the man should be considerate of the player who has kept his team on top even with most of the Bulls’ important players out for more than a month.

The Bulls have played 23 games and won 12 in that period and their 5x All-Star has broken some astonishing records while leading his shorthanded team to hard-fought victories.