LeBron James cheekily flexes ridiculous milestone spanning longer than Shaquille O’Neal’s career after “fear” comments
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal recently critiqued LA Lakers superstar forward LeBron James for his inability to instill fear in his opponents. On Monday, the 20-time All-Star seemingly fired a subtle shot back at O’Neal by sharing a staggering statistic contrasting their careers.
On “The Big Podcast with Shaq” on Wednesday, O’Neal and former nine-year NBA veteran point guard Mario Chalmers discussed opposing players’ perceptions of James. O’Neal, who played one season alongside James with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2009-10), highlighted how he’s never heard any players express fear of the four-time MVP.
“I’ve heard players say — including myself, — ‘I feared [Michael Jordan].’ I’ve heard players in your generation say they feared Kobe [Bryant]. I’ve never really heard any players say they fear LeBron,” O’Neal said.
Chalmers, who played four seasons with James with the Miami Heat (2010-2014), winning two titles, concurred. Chalmers touched on how the four-time champion’s efforts to be universally beloved made him less menacing.
“I didn’t think players really feared LeBron like they did Jordan,” Chalmers said. “And it’s not that you shouldn’t fear Bron. I just think at the end of the day, Bron has been through so much that he wanted to be liked. So it was kind of like, ‘I’m gonna do things now where people like me and people will respect me.’”
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During Chalmers’ explanation, O’Neal agreed that James “is a nice guy.” The two later contrasted the 39-year-old to NBA legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, who embraced being hated in villainous roles.
It’s unclear exactly what James thought about his former teammates’ comments. However, he appeared to take a subtle dig at O’Neal in his latest Instagram story. The Lakers superstar shared a stat showcasing how his 10-plus-point game streak (1,210 games) is longer than O’Neal’s career (1,207 games).
In his caption, James quipped about the absurdity of the milestone.
“Why is this so funny to me!!” James said.
O’Neal’s career spanned 19 seasons, but he was a shell of himself toward the end. Meanwhile, James is still thriving in Year 21, playing at an All-Star level. So, amid his record-setting campaign, it appears the 39-year-old isn’t too concerned about outside noise.
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Channing Frye pushes back on Shaquille O’Neal’s critique of LeBron James
While LeBron James didn’t directly respond to Shaquille O’Neal’s comments about nobody fearing him, his former Cavaliers teammate Channing Frye did.
On NBA TV’s “#Handles” on Friday, Frye highlighted how James is a proven winner. He added that even at age 39, opposing teams don’t want to match up against him in the playoffs, which is a sign they fear him.
“Bron’s game is not like that, right? Bron’s game is cerebral, it’s like ‘winning,’” Frye said.
“So, he’s gonna give you 50 [points], 14 [rebounds] and 13 [assists], but it’s not the same. I’m pretty sure there are players that do fear him in Game 7s. The Lakers this year, LeBron is almost 40 years old, and nobody wants to be No. 1 and play the Lakers in the first round.”
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The Lakers (36-32) entered Monday sitting 10th in the Western Conference, in play-in positioning. However, as Frye noted, the West’s top teams could jockey for positioning to avoid them in the first round if they make a late-season run.
So, James may not be viewed as a “killer” like Jordan and Bryant. However, most would probably agree that his approach to the game is still paying off in Year 21.
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