NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has a new opponent in his neverending feud with modern-day big men: Rudy Gobert.
After O’Neal called Gobert — who is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and made the Western Conference Finals — the worst player in the history of the league, Gobert on Thursday took to social media to call O’Neal out for being “triggered” by his success and taking cheap shots at players to “stay relevant.”
“It is sad to see someone that has accomplished as much as you did @SHAQ both in sport and business still be triggered by another man’s finances and accomplishments,” Gobert wrote on X. “I get the entertainment part but unlike other folks, you don’t need that stuff to stay relevant.”
It is sad to see someone that has accomplished as much as you did @SHAQ both in sport and business still be triggered by another man’s finances and accomplishments. I get the entertainment part but unlike other folks, you don’t need that stuff to stay relevant. https://t.co/KPHs2VmfIb
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) September 5, 2024
During an interview with Complex, O’Neal was asked to pick his “WOAT,” aka the Worst Player Of All Time, and immediately chose Gobert without missing a beat. But rather than even bother to make a case for why Gobert was actually the worst ever, he took aim at Gobert’s salary.
“If you sign a contract for $250 (million), show me $250 (million),” O’Neal said. “You got guys like him who f*** the system over, making all this money and they can’t f***ing play.”
O’Neal never misses a chance to bash big men — or any highly-paid star player in the modern NBA — who aren’t as dominant as he was.
Setting aside the obvious growth of the league and its salary cap since O’Neal’s playing days and the fact that Gobert is plenty dominant on the defensive end of the court where O’Neal was inconsistent, Gobert clearly has had enough of O’Neal using his name to get attention he doesn’t need.
It is strange analysis for someone as rich and famous as O’Neal to care so much about a player’s salary when covering the league. Of course, O’Neal isn’t silly enough to believe an All-Star and DPOY like Gobert is actually the worst player in the history of the NBA. He just wants to make a point.
The problem is it’s one he’s made constantly over the years, about Gobert, Joel Embiid, Dwight Howard, and plenty of others. At a certain point, the NBA community is going to get tired of it.
Gobert has reached wit’s end and is calling out the game behind O’Neal’s insistence on negativity and pocket-watching.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.