“Shaquille O’Neal was out of shape for a couple of years”: Kevin Garnett roasts Bill Simmons for criticizing Lakers legend’s fitness

Shaquille O’Neal is often said to be the most dominant NBA player ever. But even he received some criticism from the media for taking it easy.

Kevin Garnett and Adam Sandler appeared together on a great episode of The Ringer podcast in December 2019. This was to promote their movie ‘Uncut Gems’, which was critically acclaimed later on. Simmons, Sandler and Garnett browsed through a multitude of topics in a sumptuous discussion.

Garnett was pouring out gems of wisdom and tales from his time in the league that all fans will love. He told the story of how he once saw Dennis Rodman running on a treadmill after finishing a game. He vividly described the training and practice he’d go through as a player and after retirement.

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KG also described the animosity between his Celtics team and the Heatles. He reminded people of D-Wade’s attempt to injure Rondo, and how this affected their relationship with LeBron James and co.

Kevin Garnett defends Shaquille O’Neal after Bill Simmons calls him out of shape

The discussion between the trio veered at one point to excellence and dominance. This was at the time when Giannis was making his case as back-to-back MVP last season. Garnett first criticized the Greek Freak for load management, because he believes playing through niggles helps in building tolerance.

Bill Simmons countered by citing the case of Shaquille O’Neal, who gained notoriety for saying he’d heal on company time. This was met with a vitriolic response from Garnett, ‘You can’t be averaging 25 and 12 and more if you’re out of shape in the NBA.’

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KG proceeded to do an elaborate impression of a guy who’s ostensibly out of shape in the basketball sense. It was a fun watch, all in all, and comes as a highly recommended watch to get a true peak inside the NBA.