LeBron James and Kevin Durant aimed slights at Inside the NBA analyst and Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal for his criticism of Donovan Mitchell.
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In one of the most awkward post-game interviews ever, Donovan Mitchell and Shaquille O’Neal had a little back and forth last night. Shaq straight-up said the Spida isn’t good enough to lead a championship team yet. An ordinary person might have taken exception to it, but the Don was too classy.
All Mitchell said was “I know”, causing Shaq’s retort to be lost and for him to be stumped. Spida is now in his 4th NBA season, and will now be expected to make a proper playoff run. This doesn’t mean, however, that you can confront a mere 24-year-old with such a statement.
The last youngster to lead an NBA team to a championship was Magic Johnson in 1980. Not even James was considered worthy of being a first option for a championship team at 24.
Kevin Durant and LeBron James take shots at Shaquille O’Neal for Donovan Mitchell comments
In an Instagram post by Cuff, he asked fans why newer generation NBA players are ‘so sensitive’. He got a reply in kind for his condescending comments, both from Kevin Durant and LBJ. KD said:
“Them old heads need to go enjoy retirement. These boys have coaches they work with every day lol.”
LeBron backed him up by saying: “There’s a difference between constructive criticism and soft hating though. I’ve seen it both ways come my way, mostly the hate. You can hear it in their delivery.”
Both James and KD are spot on with their statements. These players who are being ‘criticized’ by pundits have more than enough feedback from their coaching staff. They don’t need any external ‘mentor’ to explain how and where they need to get better. Shaq’s tone is definitely one of soft hate – James was perfectly right about this as well.
