Lately, NBA superstars have been paying homage to some of the all-time greats. Some of the biggest names in the league, including Stephen Curry and James Harden, have been sharing their all-time starting fives on social media. This has been greatly appreciated by Shaquille O’Neal. The Hall of Famer is loving the attention modern players are giving legends and even reshared the same on Instagram. Recently, Kevin Durant followed suit and posted his all-time five, which Shaq again reshared. Although, fans aren’t too happy about it.
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Curry and Harden had fielded some incredible players in their starting fives. Steph had Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan at the guard spot, with Kobe Bryant running the three, and Tim Duncan at the four. The Beard also had a very similar line-up, with a slight change, that saw Magic replaced with LeBron James. And, of course, they both had the exact same center, in Big Diesel. But, KD didn’t have the four-time NBA Champion in his line-up, which didn’t sit well with fans.
Shaquille O’Neal shares Kevin Durant’s all-time starting five much to the ire of his fans
Kevin Durant recently spoke about his all-time starting five. A team that saw LeBron James at the point guard position, Michael Jordan at shooting guard, Kobe Bryant at small forward, himself at the power forward, and Hakeem Olajuwon at center. An amazing team, one that could win quite a few championships, and others agree.
In fact, Shaquille O’Neal shared the same on his Instagram, complimenting him for making a “hell of a team.” However, while The Big Aristotle seemed to appreciate the nod to his fellow legends, his fans were having none of it. So, in order to voice their displeasure, they took to social media.
Shaq’s fans were clearly upset that the “most dominant player” in NBA history was not included in the five. And, as such had a few theories as to why he was snubbed. Including the possibility that KD probably left him out because he said something “slightly” bad about him.
“I guess @shaq said something (slightly) bad about him [Kevin Durant] once…”
KD pissed off some fans by keeping Shaq off his All-Time Starting 5 pic.twitter.com/tdMhlaKNYn
— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) July 25, 2023
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Hopefully, this doesn’t escalate to a full-blown beef between the two men. God knows that Shaq has had more than enough “spats” with the Slim Reaper in the past.
KD and Shaq had a somewhat tense interaction on Twitter a few months ago
A few months back, right around the trade deadline, Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Durant had a somewhat tense back-and-forth on social media. Following the Lakers’ decision to trade for Rui Hachimura, Shaq claimed he didn’t think much of the deal, considering Rui wasn’t a Top-10 player.
This prompted KD to question whether or not the Hall of Famer “knew ball,” and of course, O’Neal had to clap back.
Shaquille doesn’t know ball? https://t.co/UPoBbOeG8g
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) January 28, 2023
Damn, I got cooked for asking a simple question.
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) January 28, 2023
When he was pressed on the matter, Shaq vehemently denied that they had any beef. But, perhaps this was just one of the reasons Durant left him off his starting five.