Weeks after beefing Shaquille O'Neal, Shannon Sharpe snubs ex Lakers legend as 'most dominant'
About a month ago, Shannon Sharpe and Shaquille O'Neal got into a minor feud online. Another chapter to this beef could be added following the Hall of Fame tight end's recent center rankings.
During Monday's episode of "First Take" on ESPN, Sharpe and host Stephen A. Smith broke down their all-time rankings for NBA centers. Sharpe did give Shaq a mention but put him third. Above him were a pair of fellow LA Lakers legends, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain.
Smith agreed with Shannon Sharpe's list for the most part and even threw in an extra name, Bill Russell. However, he did bring up one argument to put Shaq ahead of Chamberlain on the all-time list.
"Where my issue with Wilt compared to Shaq comes in is that Wilt had a nemisis," Stephen A. Smith said. "That got nine more titles straight up versus him in that era. Nobody would have done that to Shaq."
Sharpe brought up Wilt Chamberlain's impressive averages while making his case and called him the most dominant big ever over Shaq. During his 14 years in the league, "The Big Dipper" averaged 30.1 points and 22.9 rebounds. Along with being a two-time champion, Wilt's most notorious accomplishment was scoring 100 points in a single game.
Why did Shannon Sharpe and Shaquille O'Neal get into an internet feud?
Shannon Sharpe and Shaq's feud all started because of the MVP award. After another dominant season for the Denver Nuggets, Nikola Jokic took home the trophy for the third time in his career.
When Jokic was being interviewed by the "Inside the NBA" crew, Shaq did not hide his true feelings. He told Jokic he felt the award should have gone to OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Shannon Sharpe did not take to this interaction kindly and talked about it on one of his own podcasts. He felt Shaq only said that to Jokic because the Nuggets center has more MVP awards than he does.
After Sharpe said he couldn't have Shaq in the GOAT conversation because of his one MVP, it sparked a series of responses from the Hall of Fame center. He first went on a long rant on Instagram, bringing up all his other accolades.
This feud saw its end when Shaq decided to drop a diss track aimed at the Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Shaq might only have one MVP trophy on his resumé, but he was regularly in the conversation for nearly a decade. Throughout his career, he finished top three in voting on five separate occasions.
Even though Shaq has a limited amount of MVPs, he still has a list of accolades comparable to an all-time great. He is a 15-time All-Star, a four-time champion, a three-time NBA Finals MVP and a two-time scoring champion.