Shaquille O'Neal lays down gauntlet to DPOY frontrunner, calls him overrated
Since his retirement, Shaquille O'Neal has not been shy to share his thoughts on the new generation of NBA players. His most recent target is three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Rudy Gobert.
On his podcast, Shaq shared his thoughts on the Minnesota Timberwolves big man. He did not hold back about Gobert's defensive impact being overrated. To earn the LA Lakers' approval, he wants to see him have a lockdown performance against an elite talent like Nikola Jokic.
"I never thought he was a great defensive player," Shaq said. "See, what it is, there’s not a lot of centers that are making him play defense. Like, he’s not doing that s**t against Joker."
"But defense to me is guard that guy and shut him down. You want to impress me? Hold Joker under 15 points. All that weakside shot blocking, that’s cool. But it’s not going to work against guys like me and Joker.”
After struggling in his first year with the Timberwolves, Gobert has returned to form this season. He has led Minnesota to the league's best defense, along with being the frontrunner for DPOY this season.
Despite what Gobert has done, Shaquille O'Neal still wants to see more from the three-time All-Star.
Is Shaquille O'Neal right about Rudy Gobert not being able to stop Nikola Jokic?
It's worth noting that what Shaquille O'Neal said is no small feat. Nikola Jokic is one of the top players in the NBA and might be on his way to his third MVP. Stopping him to just 15 points is a feat teams struggle greatly with, let alone one player.
Nonetheless, Jokic has had his way with Rudy Gobert on multiple occasions over the years. The two centers have faced off other 22 times, with Jokic averaging 20.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists.
The most recent time Jokic battled Gobert was during the first week of the season. He ended with 25 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, but the Minnesota Timberwolves won convincingly.
Since 2019, Gobert has held Jokic under 20 points twice, but Jokic only played 16 minutes in one of those games. The two-time MVP posted 16 points on 33% shooting in the other instance.
As far as big games go, Jokic has had plenty. His best outing came in 2021 when he erupted for 47 points and 12 rebounds. It's performances like this that has led to Shaquille O'Neal doubting Gobert's impact on defense.
Now that Shaquille O'Neal has thrown down the gauntlet, Gobert will have some added motivation the next time he faces Jokic.