Shaquille O’Neal Labels Rudy Gobert ‘WOAT’ for Failing to Meet Contract Expectations

Shaquille O’Neal is very outspoken when it comes to his opinions on players in the NBA. A very vocal critic of modern centers, O’Neal never hesitates to bring a player down on TV or social media. On an episode of Complex, O’Neal sat down with his son Myles, where the two gave their takes on the WOAT or Worse Of All-Time, and Shaq proved just how far he’s willing to go with his criticism.

The father-son duo were asked a series of questions about the everyday habits of people to players in the NBA. And when asked who was the worst player of all time, O’Neal went after Rudy Gobert once again.

However, The Big Aristotle did give a clear and concise explanation as to why he chose Gobert for that slot, while also throwing some shade at Ben Simmons. 

“Imma tell you why. If you sign a contract for 250 then show me 250. It’s a reason why I walk funny and why I can’t turn my neck. And why I can’t do it is cause I play for my 120. So, you got guys like him that f**k the system over by making all this money and they can’t f**king play.”

Shaq also went on to add, “So, I don’t respect guys like that. Like every time I make these comments, people think I’m hating but these are facts. You got teachers, you got firemen, you got doctors who have real jobs and don’t get paid sh*t.”

While Shaq makes a valid case for every day jobs being underpaid NBA players are the reason why arenas fill up and teams make millions if not billions in revenue. However, according to O’Neal, Gobert isn’t one of them.

The Lakers legend strongly feels that Gobert isn’t living up to his contract obligations. The Timberwolves center signed a five-year contract extension worth $205 million. His averages this past season were 14.0 PPG, 12.9 RPG, and 2.1 BPG as per BasketballReference.

While Shaq already said what needed to be said, after looking at Rudy’s past season averages, the disparity should be speaking volumes.

Shaq’s past jabs at Gobert

O’Neal’s past comments may make it seem like the Hall of Famer may have had an agenda against him. But in reality, it bothered Shaq to see someone get paid so much while they have continued to underperform in the league for the past few years.

Shaq took to his socials to take a shot at the French seven-footer, uploading a picture of Gobert in a Walmart uniform. O’Neal’s post indicated his feelings about Gobert would’ve been working at Walmart if he weren’t seven feet tall.

In fact, that is not all. If you look at the performance of Team France in basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the squad had a four-time DPOY and a rookie Victor Wembanyama. And it did not even take Wemby a single game to outshine the 11-year veteran on the biggest international stage of them all.