“I think he can be one of the greatest ever” Shaquille O’Neal reveals his ‘PLAN of tough love’ for Donovan Mitchell
Follow Us
Shaq and Mitchell
Shaquille O’Neal discussed Donovan Mitchell‘s impressive start to the season with the Cavaliers on his, “The Big Podcast”. The dynamic scorer is currently playing the greatest basketball of his career, catapulting him into the MVP discussion among players like Giannis Antetounmpo and Luka Doncic. Shaq continued by reminding everyone that this is precisely why he had previously been critical of Spida. Donovan Mitchell has been averaging 31.4 ppg for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season. Moreover, the Cavs have one of the best records so far.
Talking about Donovan Mitchell’s stellar start this season O’Neal discussed why he was tough with him in the first place. Seeing him perform at the highest level, Shaq said, “That means my plan of tough love is working. See you gotta understand about me, when I talk, I know exactly what I be doing. A lot of guys I like to poke and see what I can get.” O’Neal was referring to the incident between him and Donovan Mitchell last year on TNT.
In the 2021-22 season, O’Neal was critical of Donovan Mitchell for not pushing himself enough and said he did not have what it takes to get to the next level. Recalling the incident last year Shaq pointed out, “When I said something last year, he went out and played, right? And guess what, hopefully at the end of the season, he’ll be touted as one of the top guards. I want to see how far I can push this kid. I think he can be one of the greatest ever, cause I see it in him,” Shaq said.
“I want to see how far I can push this kid. I think he can be one of the greatest ever.”@SHAQ talks @spidadmitchell‘s hot start to the season for the @cavs on #TheBigPodcast ➡️ https://t.co/rh5crzogOj https://t.co/1nUXsZIGB7 pic.twitter.com/8QhEtcmtUl
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) November 4, 2022
Shaq said he had been doing it for a long time and does it on purpose. He added “I did the same thing to Penny Hardaway, I did the same thing to Kobe Bryant, I did the same thing DWade. I know exactly what I’m doing.” An exchange between Shaq and Donovan Mitchell made headlines in the 2021-22 season following their awkward conversation in a postgame interview. The former Utah Jazz star was told by the legendary Los Angeles Lakers that he did not “have what it takes to get to the next level.” To which Mitchell replied, “All right!”
Donovan Mitchell was not shocked with Shaquille O’Neal’s criticism
In the past, Shaquille O’Neal had been critical of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Despite having a prolific scorer in Spida and 2 times “Defensive Player of the Year” in Rudy Gobert, and a good team the Utah Jazz failed to surge ahead in the postseason. However, they were one of the top teams in the Western Conference for two seasons straight.
In 2021-22 season on January 7, 2021, during a segment on TNT speaking about Gobert, O’Neal said, “I’m not gonna hate, but this should be an inspiration to all the little kids out there,” O’Neal said. “You average 11 points in the NBA, you can get $200 million.” The Jazz slander from Shaq did not stop there.
A couple of weeks later, in the postgame interview with Mitchell, things got awkward between the guard and O’Neal. “I said tonight that you are one of my favorite players but you don’t have what it takes to get to the next level. I said it on purpose. I wanted you to hear it,” O’Neal told Mitchell. “What do you have to say about that?” un-shocked Mitchell responded: “Aight.” O’Neal though didn’t give up and got his reply from Donovan Mitchell. As the guard said: “I’ve been hearing that since my rookie year. You know, I’m just gonna get better and do what I do.”
Do follow us on Google News | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Stay Updated!
/techfirstnow/media/agency_attachments/kATjCXskQdJKkXN0OuqW.png)