Shaquille O’Neal has almost always said what was on his mind. ‘The Big Aristotle’ didn’t get this far as one of the most entertaining talking heads in all of sports media by keeping his opinions on players and teams to himself. Him alongside Charles Barkley on ‘Inside the NBA’ make quite the explosive duo.
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One player who’s caught a decent amount of flack from Shaq over the past year has been Rudy Gobert. The Utah Jazz’s meltdown in last year’s Playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks prompted stern criticism from O’Neal towards Gobert.
They would even get into a war of words when Rudy Gobert claimed he would ‘lock his a** down’ when talking about being able to contain Shaq. Of course, the 4x NBA champion responded and scoffed at the notion that this would ever happen.
Shaquille O’Neal on the recent Rudy Gobert altercation
Shaquille O’Neal took to ‘The Big Podcast’ to talk about what transpired between Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson this past week. Audio leaks have confirmed that Kyle told the Timberwolves that they had a decision to make this summer regarding the Rudy situation.
Him punching Slo-mo led to him being suspended for the T-Wolves play-in game against the Los Angeles Lakers, leading to a Lakers win. Now, they have to face off against the OKC Thunder in a win-or-go-home situation to battle it out for the 8th seed in the Western Conference.
In regards to this, Shaquille O’Neal would go on to talk about how he advised high schoolers that being able to play like Rudy Gobert would get them $250 million just as Gobert did (actual contract is $205 Million over 5 years).
During his assessment of what transpired, Shaq even stated that he doesn’t ‘see that dog’ in Rudy, claiming just by his response he can tell. Giving the example of Donovan Mitchell, where he criticized him last season, leading to him now playing exceptionally well for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Rudy, who will be available to play in the game against the OKC Thunder, has since released an apology on social media. Kyle Anderson has also said that the two have already buried the hatchet.