Shaquille O’Neal endorses idea of $404,000,000 pay day for Nikola Jokic and a $334,000,000 ‘splash’ from Celtics for Jayson Tatum

Rishabh Bhatnagar | 30/07/2023
Shaquille O’Neal endorses idea of $404,000,000 pay day for Nikola Jokic and a $334,000,000 ‘splash’ from Celtics for Jayson Tatum

Shaquille O’Neal is as active and hilarious on social media as he is during his analyst segments. The LA Lakers’ legend regularly uses his accounts to make predictions, claims, and jokes about everything related to basketball. Recently, he used the platform to post a story about some upcoming supermax extensions for some of the NBA’s biggest stars. Shaq supported the idea of a $404,000,000, 5-year deal for Nikola Jokic, as well as a $334,000,000 deal for Jayson Tatum. The Boston Celtics only recently splashed big cash for Jaylen Brown after offering him a huge $305,000,000 deal, a 5-year extension.

The 5-man list includes extensions that are all worth more than Brown’s historic contract. Nikola Jokic will be the new record holder with the first NBA contract that is worth over $400 million. The 5-year contract will obviously be well-deserved, considering his exploits during the season that passed.

Shaquille O’Neal supports mammoth contract extensions for some of the NBA’s biggest stars

Under the new rules for the 2023-24 season, veteran contracts can be worth 140% of previous deals that they are on. This opens doors for some huge contract extension for some of the biggest NBA stars.

Nikola Jokic, after winning the championship for the Nuggets, is eligible for a record-breaking $404 million deal that will be the biggest-ever contract. The record is currently held by the recent Jaylen Brown deal.

However, each of the 5 contracts that Shaq pushed will break Brown’s record. The list includes Jayson Tatum, who is now eligible for a $334 million extension. The same is true for Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Moving on, the likes of Joel Embiid and Luka Doncic are also eligible for huge extensions, with both potential deals worth $367 million. Of course, all of these stars have only recently received huge deals which makes it unlikely for the increased deals to be offered anytime soon. The Boston Celtics might also be reluctant to offer such huge money so quickly, considering they only recently splashed on Jaylen Brown.

Shaq welcomes Jokic to “big man alliance,” proceeds to compare stats with himself

Jokic’s exemplary season saw him win the MVP as well as lead his team to the title. This led to Shaq posting on Instagram welcoming him to the “Big Man Alliance,” which includes some legendary stars.

The list now includes Shaq, Jokic, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, and David Robinson. Jokic rounds off an elite list of centers that he will be honored to be counted amongst.

 

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A post shared by DR. SHAQUILLE O’NEAL Ed.D. (@shaq)

Regardless, staying true to his own personality, he also posted another image comparing Jokic’s stats to his 2002 NBA Finals MVP run. Shaquille O’Neal led the way in points, blocks, and overall shooting efficiency. However, Jokic also averaged 2.2 3-pointers per game last season while Shaq didn’t attempt a single 3-point shot during his Finals run.

Post Edited By: Utathya Ghosh
Giannis Antetokounmpo Jaylen Brown Jayson Tatum Joel Embiid Luka Doncic Nikola Jokic Shaquille O'Neal

About the author

Rishabh Bhatnagar

Rishabh Bhatnagar is a Senior NBA Writer at The SportsRush. A lifelong NBA fan, Rishabh has been working as an NBA journalist since 2017. Before joining The SportsRush, he covered the NBA for another popular media platform. Rishabh is a bona fide NBA Historian specializing in uncovering stories from the league's past. He also likes covering trade rumors and player contracts. Rishabh has written almost 800 articles for The SportsRush and is always on the lookout for intriguing NBA stories. He is also a published novelist and an ardent Lakers fan.

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