Legendary Shaquille O’Neal confesses jealousy towards Jokic, Embiid, and Wembanyama

Shaquille O'Neal talked about the current big men of the league on Draymond Green's podcast.

Legendary Shaquille O’Neal confesses jealousy towards Jokic, Embiid, and Wembanyama

Shaquille O'Neal is jealous of the modern day centers.

Shaquille O’Neal is known to be the most dominant center in NBA history. The four-time champion was almost impossible to stop with his incredible defense and skills of reaching the rim. However, recently the star revealed missing out on one skill that the current centers in the NBA are allowed to showcase.

Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Victor Wembanyama, despite being the centers are essential scoring factors for their teams. The trio often shoots three-pointers which was not the case in Shaquille O’Neal‘s era. As Shaq appeared on Draymond Green‘s podcast, the star confessed to being jealous of today’s game. 

I'm jealous of them because I wish I was allowed to do that. Back then every now and then I take and go coast to coast, the coach would look at me crazy. So, they're allowed to do it.
Shaquille O’Neal on Draymond Green’s podcast

Shaq who calls himself the ‘black Steph Curry‘ enjoys shooting triples to this day. The star is disheartened as he never got the chance to attempt scoring from beyond the arc, unlike the three centers. O’Neal also praised all three big men by comparing them to the legends of the league.

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The Joker, Embiid, and Wemby are currently the best centers in the NBA. Despite being over 6’11, the trio are all their teams’ scoring leaders which adds to their other skills. However, none of them have thrived on the opposite side of the court compared to O’Neal, which speaks volumes about the change in the game.

Shaquille O’Neal was called a ‘big-man hater’ for his comments about Chet Holmgren

As O’Neal praised Jokic, Embiid, and Wemby, the star certainly does not feel the same about each center in the league. Last year, the star received backlash for his opinion about the Oklahoma City Thunder’s rookie Chet Holmgren. Despite Wemby and Holmgren being in the same draft class, O’Neal feels much differently about the Thunder’s center.

During an episode of his podcast, as Udonis Haslem was a guest, a discussion about the modern-day centers vs. Shaq was taking place. While on the topic, the co-host Adam Lefkoe referred to Holmgren as ‘phenomenal’ which did not sit well with Shaq. 

Don't do that. I hate when y'all do that...Y'all are throwing around words that we worked hard for. 'Phenomenal' is not the right word.
Shaquille O’Neal on The Big Podcast

This resulted in fans calling O’Neal a ‘big-man hater’, which is not the case. While talking about Jokic and others on the Draymond Green Show, Shaq clarified that he does not hate all centers in the league. The star simply stated he dislikes the big men who “don’t play like big men.”

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