When it comes to centers, few can compare to Shaquille O’Neal. The man has done it all, having played 19 seasons in the NBA.
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A regular season MVP, four NBA Championships, three Finals MVPs, and multiple All-Star and All-NBA team selections. Shaq is a man who knows a thing or two about playing the No.5 spot.
So it doesn’t come as a surprise when he is critical of other centers. And, in recent times, Diesel has been targeting Rudy Gobert.
Shaquille O’Neal criticizes Rudy Gobert for taking to Twitter to cry about the fans
Rudy Gobert recently found a new home with the Minnesota Timberwolves. In the offseason, the defensive center was traded to the T-Wolves from the Utah Jazz. But he has been having a tough time of late, and the fans aren’t happy about his performances.
So much so that they have begun booing him at games. This has promoted the former DPOY to take to Twitter and complain about them. A move that has dramatically angered perhaps his greatest critic, Shaquille O’Neal, who has called him out for the same.
Shaq calls out Rudy Gobert
“Get 25 rebounds, get nine blocks. Stop letting people dunk on you. Put somebody on your ass about that instead of crying to the fans” pic.twitter.com/eOtmuGU5nN
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) December 4, 2022
To be fair to The Big Aristotle, he made a great point when he addressed this situation on his podcast. Fans only boo when a player isn’t doing well, which should be an indicator to Gobert.
However, given their dicey relationship and the beef they’ve had in the past, it is highly unlikely that The Stifle Tower will see this as constructive criticism.
Shaq was not happy that Rudy Gobert got handed a $205 million contract
In 2021, Rudy Gobert signed a huge $205 million contract with the Utah Jazz. A lot of money for a center in the modern NBA. As such, Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t too happy about the figures and called out the Jazz for paying a man who “scores 11 points” such a huge contract.
Safe to say Shaquille O’Neal is not a fan of the huge contract Rudy Gobert got from Utah Jazz.
🧢 or 🚫🧢 from Shaq? pic.twitter.com/kkX0VQ6uAP
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 3, 2021
Yet another fair assessment from Shaq, but one that has seen the start of what seems to be a never-ending war of words between the two.