Shaquille O’Neal is one of the greatest NBA players ever, and the Big Fella is a bit sensitive about that too. If anyone tries attacking his legacy by any means, Shaq does not spare that person in any manner. Recently, an
Instagram account, ‘ Inspired by Hoops ‘, posted an old clip of Shannon Sharpe criticizing Shaq for underachieving in his career when Sharpe was still an analyst at FS1’s UNDISPUTED. In his statement, Sharpe stated how he was disappointed with Shaq for not putting himself in the best physical condition during his playing career. The
NFL legend mentioned how Shaq had a poor 52% free throw record and had missed around 100 games due to his injuries caused by the weight exerted on his knees and feet. Furthermore, Sharpe believed that Shaq should have finished his career with two more MVPs, one or two more NBA Finals appearances, and as the third all-time leading scorer behind Kareem Abdul-Jabar and Karl Malone. Concluding his statement, Sharpe said that he wouldn’t put Shaq “in front of” legendary big men such as Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Wilt Chamberlain, or Bill Russell. As many know, Shaq is quite active on Instagram and notices almost every post or discourse on him online. The Big Aristotle quickly noticed this slander from Shannon Sharpe and retaliated with a comment on the Instagram page’s comments section. The Big fella wrote, The term G14 classification comes from the movie Rush Hour and was used to make fun of the character played by Chris Tucker. While the term doesn’t necessarily have any real meaning, Shaq has been using it to denote athletes who have ‘demonstrated their abilities and success at every level of their career.’ Shaq has a history of defending his legacy on Instagram against any such slander, and this instance is an evident example of this. Rightly so, the Big Fella had an incredibly dominant career in the NBA, which reserves him the right to defend himself against any such slander coming his way at any point. However, that’s who Shaq is and every athlete has the right to defend his legacy. Should Shaq have escalated a matter on an old clip with Shannon Sharpe? The resurfaced clip of Shannon Sharpe was from his time with FS1’s UNDISPUTED alongside Skip Bayless. The clip must have been from a long time ago, given that Sharpe has moved on from Fox Sports and recently joined
ESPN alongside Stephen A. Smith. Perhaps, it was a bit unnecessary for Shaq to stir such old news, as retired legends of his class should be unmoved by criticism they get from the various sides of the media. Analyzing Shannon Sharpe’s comments, he may have been right in assessing Shaq’s career. Despite having a dominant few seasons after joining the Lakers, the Big Aristotle fell off heavily due to his injuries and unhealthy workout regimen. Furthermore, Shaq never improved on his free throw
shooting, nor did he put in enough effort since LA to keep up with his consistency. Shaq could have finished his career gracefully without having to shift teams had he been more serious about the implications that some of his decisions might have had in the long run.