Shaquille O’Neal Graciously Acknowledges Victor Wembanyama Equaling His Rookie Milestone Despite Bol Bol Narrative

Victor Wembanyama has undoubtedly exceeded his expectations as a rookie in the league. However, for the longest time, Shaquille O’Neal compared Wemby’s skills to the Phoenix Suns center Bol Bol, another 7-footer player in the league. Shaq is of the belief that Wemby and Bol Bol’s skills were essentially the same, even contesting against his Inside the NBA co-analysts on this claim.

However, it seems like Shaq recently had a change of mind. The San Antonio Spurs played the New York Knicks last night, where Wemby became the first rookie since Shaq to score 40 points and 20 rebounds in a game. To congratulate the young rookie, Shaq shared a post on his Instagram story, acknowledging the incredible achievement of the French prodigy.

Shaq is finally accepting Wembanyama’s generational talent? pic.twitter.com/uApTm8rxkD

— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) March 30, 2024

Perhaps now, Shaq must have changed his mind about comparing Wemby to Bol Bol. A few months earlier, Shaq had contended on Inside the NBA that Bol Bol is similar in his skill sets, just like Victor Wembanyama. Hence, the league shouldn’t be surprised to see a new 7-footer showcase the same skills in the center position.

Shaq’s wild claim shocked all his fellow panelists, specifically Charles Barkley. Chuck could not fathom what he had just heard and asked Shaq, “Are you comparing Wembanyama to Bol Bol?” 

Over the past few months, Shaq stood his guard over this claim and refused to back down. However, seeing this change of mind of Shaq is perhaps refreshing for many touting for Victor Wembanyama this season.

Shaquille O’Neal doubled down on his take of Wemby and Bol Bol being similar

Shaquille O’Neal has been adamant about Bol Bol and Wemby being similar for months. In fact, he doubled down on this take while speaking on this topic on The Big Podcast. According to Shaq, Bol Bol could even be a better player than Wemby, with the only problem being he was ‘lazy as f**k.’

Speaking on the podcast, the Big Fella contended,

“I am comparing, and Wemby wants it more,” O’Neal said. “Bol Bol is lazy as f***. But Bol Bol can do everything Wemby can do and even a little better. Dribble behind the back, shoot the 3, nice handle, the floater game. He’s just lazy.” 

Bol Bol has been around in the league since the 2019-20 season and hasn’t yet developed as a player of his potential. He is currently tenured with the Phoenix Suns as a center and has often been overlooked by the teams he has played for.

Comparing the Suns’ center with Wemby must have been a bit of over-exaggeration on Shaq’s part. However, since Wemby has been breaking records as a rookie, the Big Aristotle seems to be slowly softening his stance around the 20-year-old rookie.