“I hope this upsets him!” Shaquille O’Neal places phenom Victor Wembanyama at 31st rank
NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal recently made a bold assertion regarding Spurs star Victor Wembanyama in a recent interview.
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Shaquille O'Neal and Victor Wembanyama
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has attracted much interest lately in his recent comments regarding San Antonio Spurs’ big man, Victor Wembanyama. Notably, O’Neal has a hard-on approach to treating the younger generation. Regarding this, he was highly critical of Wembanyama in a recent podcast.
O’Neal ranked Wembanyama with a controversial ranking. This is O’Neal’s style of motivating the younger generation, especially the ‘big men in the league.’ It is something that his father taught him during his playing days in the NBA. For example, O’Neal has always criticized Rudy Gobert, the Minnesota Timberwolves center, to motivate him to perform better.
I’ll go Victor Wembanyama at 31, Same thing my father told me, ‘You’re good, but you’re not good enough.’ So he was really good. But when your team doesn’t make the playoffs, when you’re that guy, and all the pressure’s on you, [it] don’t matter who you got with you, you have to win.
Shaquille O’Neal told BR Sport
It’s very clear that O’Neal wants Wembanyama to use this criticism as fuel to perform at his best in the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season. Everyone expects a massive jump-up from the French rookie. The next step features making the playoffs with the San Antonio Spurs.
Shaq hopes ranking Wemby as No. 31 best player this season 'upsets him'
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 18, 2024
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In addition, the Spurs have added veteran Chris Paul to aid Wembanyama on the court. It will provide Wemby with the opportunity to team up with a top playmaker in his career. Hence, it will be intriguing to watch how Wembanyama performs alongside Paul in the upcoming NBA season.
Shaquille O’Neal has been critical of Victor Wembanyama not too long ago
Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs stole the headlines this past 2023-24 NBA season as a rookie. He was named to the All-Defensive First Team, won the Rookie of the Year award, and was named to the All-Rookie First Team. That said, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal was not surprised, giving out an unusual take on the youngster.
Wemby is a great player. But I don’t really think you can be dominant when you shoot jumpers a lot. I think if he was an inside player at 7-foot-5, the answer would be yes. But when you shoot jumpers, you’re always going to go up and down.
Shaquille O’Neal said on the Pat McAfee Show
However, Wembanyama is long, slender, and essentially unstoppable on the basketball floor.
He has already made a name for himself as a future superstar at 20. Also, Wembanyama attempted 1,186 shots and made 551 during his first season, shooting 46.5 percent from the field. It was a combination of tries close to the basket and jump shots. It remains to be seen how the French phenom performs in his second season in the NBA.
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Kartik Mudaliar
(856 Articles Published)