Shaq Quadrupling Down On His Criticism Of Current NBA Players Is Starting To Get Embarrassing
Shaq, my guy, get your shit together man. I'm someone that loves watching Shaq on TV because I find him wildly entertaining. But at the same time this whole schtick is so played out and actually kind of cringey. Nobody is asking Shaq to pretend players are all time greats when they aren't. Saying you know what greatness is and nobody has done what you've done outside of LeBron and Steph misses the point entirely. We get it, you're one of the best to ever do it all time in the history of the league. Where Shaq loses me is this apparently means he can then say every player sucks and generally not pay attention at all to the sport he's paid to cover?
The fact is, he just comes off as this bitter old guy who can't get over the "back in my day" mentality. I don't think asking Shaq to not shit on the NBA product when it makes no sense at all is that big of an ask. Nobody says Rudy Gobert is better than Shaq, nobody says Donovan Mitchell is an all time great, nobody is saying Christian Wood should be in the HOF. But just because they aren't Shaq doesn't mean they suck and doesn't mean it would be too hard to actually educate himself on what's currently going on with these players. It's all so bizarre.
The fact that he's now basically quadrupling down on is what makes this even more strange. It's like he can't admit that maybe he fucked up. It's OK Shaq, it's not that serious! Just don't be a gigantic bitter asshole when talking about this new age of NBA players. It's not that hard. You know how I know that? Look at what another all time great is able to do!
Allen Iverson is basically the anti-Shaq when it comes to this stuff. He can't stop hyping players up when it's warranted. There's no faking it with AI, he just doesn't feel the need to shit on current players just to make himself feel better about what he accomplished as a player. Watch the full episode, he goes through a bunch of guys and is about as genuine as it gets
I just can't understand why Shaq has to be such a hardo about this. Frankly, it ruins the product of Inside The NBA which is a shame because that's the best show on TV and has been for a long time.
For whatever reason Shaq wants to die on this hill. We get it dude, none of these guys in today's game could handle you in your prime. Congratulations. There's just no reason for you to be such a hater that completely disregards the good players in today's NBA.
It's such a weird stance that is beyond played out.