Shaquille O'Neal's choice knocks out Anthony Edwards or Ja Morant as NBA's future face: "League should belong to him"
In a few seasons, players like LeBron James and Steph Curry are going to be gone from the league. Shaquille O'Neal believes he knows which young star is going to be the future face of the NBA. In an article by James Boyd on Athletic, the four-time champion was quoted saying that the next big star is Tyrese Haliburton.
This season, Haliburton is leading the league in assists at 11.7 per game. He was selected to his second All-Star appearance, with this being his first as a starter. In that game, he scored 32 points while going 10-for-14 from beyond the arc while also dishing six assists and grabbing seven rebounds.
Despite everything he's already accomplished, he is still only 23-years-old. Haliburton's skill set and his abilities are still going to develop and fans can only wonder how good he can become.
Shaquille O'Neal thinks has an idea of where Haliburton will be in a couple of years when he reaches his full potential.
"He's not up there yet but he's coming," O'Neal said. "I wouldn't put him up there with Steph (Curry) and Kevin (Durant), but he's on the right path. (In) four of five years, when those guys are gone, the league should belong to him."
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Shaquille O'Neal told Tyrese Haliburton to not pass the ball in the All-Star game
The 2024 All-Star festivities were hosted by Indiana, and what great ending would it have been if Tyrese Haliburton won the ASG MVP award in front of the Indiana Pacers' home fans?
Shaquille O'Neal recognized that this would have been a wonderful moment for the Pacers and Haliburton, and he tried to give him some advice prior to the game.
O'Neal told Haliburton that he should take the game over in front of his home team's fans and told him to not pass the ball to secure the MVP award. He tried to motivate him further by reminding him that NBA player Wally Szczerbiak once called him a "wannabe All-Star."
Ultimately, he came up short but was close. Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard came away with the honors after dropping 39 points and six assists against his Western Conference counterparts.
Lillard did take 11 more field goals and nine more three-point attempts than Haliburton to get there, but Lillard did end up with zero turnovers while the Pacers' star had three.
Haliburton had the hot hand from downtown and one can only wonder if he could have dropped more points and grabbed the All-Star game MVP award had he listened to Shaq. However, the young point guard will have plenty more chances to win the ASG MVP award and more in the future.