Luka Doncic and Steph Curry earned Shaquille O’Neal’s respect by passing his ‘hate test’

Hall of Famer big man Shaquille O'Neal took some time to understand and respect Steph Curry and Luka Doncic's game.

Luka Doncic and Steph Curry earned Shaquille O’Neal’s respect by passing his ‘hate test’

Shaquille O'Neal, Steph Curry and Luka Doncic

Shaquille O’Neal has the accomplishments and the play to certify him as one of the greats of the game. At the same time, he also uses his experience winning those championships to analyze current players. Now that Europeans are dominating, the most frequent athletes he talks about are Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.

O’Neal has admitted he is impressed by the latter. The Joker has done enough to earn that respect even though the Big Aristotle seemingly discredited his last MVP win. That saw the 53-year-old facing calls of jealousy, even ending up in a beef with NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe.

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He does give the Denver Nuggets superstar praise whenever it is apt. But at the same time, he also makes it a point to establish that his prime self would have dominated the Serbian. His Big Podcast with Shaq co-host Adam Lefkoe remembered this conversation and asked O’Neal about his opinion on another European star, Luka Doncic.

I like Luka, Luka can play. If you can pass my ‘hate test’. Like Steph Curry was like. ‘s**t you lucky’. He keeps doing it. Finally reached a point, ‘Ah this motherf***er can play’. I used to hate Luka until I’ve seen him play, ‘This motherf***ing white boy is alright’.

Shaquille O’Neal said

The former league MVP revealed that he did not hold both Steph Curry and Luka Doncic in high regard. He thought them to be similar to the pure shooters who used to play during his era. But over a period of time, he understood Curry’s greatness. Then he saw Doncic’s during his last season’s run to the Finals.

Shaquille O’Neal clarifies on the ‘hate’ he dishes to the current generation

But that respect is not for everyone, as Shaquille O’Neal would go on to reveal. He believes current players do not lack the game to call themselves great. That is especially when he has witnessed greatness all throughout his basketball career.

People say Charles and I, we ruin the game talking about the product. Cause the product is s**t. Show me greatness. Y’all pay a lot of money for these shoes, I want to see them be great.

Shaquille O’Neal said

The Big Aristotle doubled down that the criticism he and his colleague Charles Barkley dish out is reflective of what they are seeing from the NBA. Both of them have played against some of the greatest players in the world.

Therefore, they know the good from the bad when they see it. He believes the current generation does not play well enough to even be good at the game of basketball. That is why the four-time champion and Charles Barkley end up criticizing this era.

Shaquille O’Neal believes money does not mean current stars are good

Shaquille O’Neal is currently worth approximately $500 million. He has amassed that after countless investments and his earnings from the NBA. But he knows a current generation star player can earn more than him before they retire. But it to him, those massive contracts do not indicate the player is great.

They can call me a hater all they want. I ain’t s**ing these motherf***ers off cause they make $400 million. A lot of these motherf***ers can’t play and they know it.

Shaquille O’Neal said

He referred to some of the salaries current players make. The Diesel believes those salaries do not necessarily prove that a player is good enough. Especially when he compares this era to that of the past, he believes most of the players are not good enough. That is why he goes ballistic when criticizing the players.