Shaquille O’Neal has amassed a huge following thanks to his incredible personality, but more importantly his exceptional career. As an NBA legend, Shaq has done it all.
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That being said, it wasn’t always easy being a superstar athlete, and by his own admittance, there were times when he got too emotional. But, not all athletes are like the Big Diesel. Take, for example, NFL great Tom Brady. According to Shaq, who recently appeared on his podcast, Let’s Go!, Brady was a superstar who never cracked under pressure, and that is something to be commended.
Shaquille O’Neal praises Tom Brady while talking about how emotional he was as an athlete
Emotion is a very important part of sports. It drives athletes to do incredible things, something that was exactly the case for Shaquille O’Neal. As one of the most dominant players in NBA history, Shaq was always in the tabloids. But, more often than not, what was on the paper was criticism. Criticism, that didn’t sit well with the Big Diesel, who, for lack of a better term, is a “sensitive soul”.
However, this sensitivity is what made him such an exceptional player. While seeing all the critics go after him did irritate him, it also drove him to perform night in and night out on the court. All so that he could prove all of them wrong. He attested to this, on the Let’s Go! podcast, where he spoke to one of his former critics, Jim Gray, and two NFL legends Tom Brady and Larry Fitzgerald.
Along the same lines, while he did admit to his sensitivity and how it helped him, he praised Tom Brady for always being a stoic figure. He lauded him for never letting the noise get to him, and for always putting up great performances. “It kind of ticks me off, cause he never responds, he always shows up, he’s 6-0, like damn,” said Shaq.
This ability to thrive under pressure is something that O’Neal commends. Later on, he ranted about the younger generation and how they fail to find the right role models. Questioning the kind of people and content they listen to, Shaq believes that this generation is not listening to the right people. Thus, making it difficult for them to achieve greatness, like he and Brady did.
Shaq took inspiration from Brady as he embarked on his weight-loss journey
There can be no denying that Shaquille O’Neal is one of the greatest of all time. But, that doesn’t mean he cannot take inspiration from some of the other great athletes around him. This year, Shaq was determined to lose weight and thus embarked on a weight loss journey that, in truth, has done him wonders.
At the start of it all, the Big Aristotle was looking for sources of inspiration. That is when he chanced upon a picture of seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady on the beach. Fuelled by jealousy, Shaq used Brady as a motivation to lose weight.
As things stand, Shaq is well on his way to reaching his desired weight. He has put in a lot of hard work and effort and is now about to see it bear fruit. And, while he does deserve a chunk of the applause, he can afford to give a sliver to Brady, who was one of the many people who pushed him.
