Shaquille O’Neal, also known as Shaq was one of the greatest centers to ever play professional basketball in the NBA. Shaq is a Hall of Famer, currently 8th on the all-time scoring list, 8th in block shots, and 15th in rebounds. The Big Aristotle was also able to win four NBA championships during his career but there was always one negative brought up when people spoke about Shaq. His work ethic was absolutely horrible and although he achieved a lot during his time in the league, his work ethic prevented him from possibly even achieving more.
Even Shaq’s former Teammate Kobe Bryant, an All-Time great himself, and a player Shaq won three consecutive championships says that if Shaq worked harder they would have won even more rings. It has been ten years since Shaq retired from the game of basketball to start his next career as an analyst joining the Inside The NBA crew with former players Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley. Inside The NBA is a great award-winning show, but this season, Shaq’s lack of work ethic that he displayed as a player has now crossed over to his next career and is exposing how out of touch he is with the Modern NBA.
Shaq Doesn’t Know the Game Anymore
When Shaq was in his prime during the early 2000s the NBA was extremely different. Big men didn’t shoot from 30ft away from the basket regularly and teams weren’t filled with 40% high volume shooters throughout the roster. So defenses have adjusted from the days when Shaq was a player changing from the older scheme of drop coverage to switching when it comes to pick and roll defense but Shaq has shown us he has no clue why that has happened.
He also doubles down saying that everybody isn’t shooting a high percentage from three in the NBA now. Technically he is right, everyone isn’t shooting a high percentage, but a majority of players that get big minutes for their teams are. So far this season 55 players are shooting above 40% from three and 104 players are shooting above the league average of 36.8%. Shaq is egregiously out of touch with the NBA refusing to look at stats and adjust his line of thinking. Which just embarrassed him on his own show by current WNBA star, Candace Parker.
Shaq is A Casual Fan
Shaquille O’Neal has shown that he is lacking touch when it comes to how modern NBA teams play and why. He has also shown he has no interest in getting to know many of the new stars in the NBA. Shaq recently admitted earlier this season he was unfamiliar with the Houston Rocket’s young star center Christian woods game. Wood isn’t a nobody in the league when he was healthy this season before his ankle injury, he was dominating averaging 22 points and 10.2 rebounds. Wood responded to Shaq’s comment about his unfamiliarity with his game saying you’re a casual.
Although everyone laughed it off Christian Wood has a point about O’Neal as he is an analyst on one of the biggest shows covering the NBA and he is a casual. That is a problem. Shaq has shown he is also unfamiliar with even MVP candidates like Nikola Jokic speaking to him in Russian when Jokic is from Serbia. This was less of a joking situation and was seen as disrespectful considering Jokic’s status in the league as an MVP candidate.
Shaq doesn’t Get along with NBA stars
Shaq on multiple occasions has shown he isn’t interested in getting along with many of the NBA stars of today. Especially when it comes to the stars of the Utah Jazz he is downright disrespectful.
Donovan Mitchell is one of the reasons why the Utah Jazz currently has the best record in the NBA and Shaq offered no praise only harsh criticism. Shaq told him he doesn’t have what it takes to reach the next level and Mitchell responded he is just gonna have to work harder, which is a foreign language to Shaq. Shaq is also attacking Donovan Mitchell’s teammate, Rudy Gobert a 2-time Defensive Player of the year. Repeatedly Shaq has gone out his way to say Gobert is overpaid due to the fact that he isn’t an offensive threat.
Shaq has one of the best jobs in the field of sports coverage but he puts no effort into improving himself or his knowledge of the game. I’m sure there are plenty of former players that would love to be in Shaq’s position and they would actually have the work ethic to make the show better. Something needs to change on Inside The NBA and I believe that the something is Shaquille O’Neal.
