"I can eat 50 burgers and bust Rudy Gobert's a**" - Shaquille O'Neal once crushed his critics from playing days in savage fashion
Shaquille O'Neal earned a reputation for being one of the fiercest competitors to ever play the game of basketball. Through his impressive combination of athleticism, size, and agility, he ushered in a new era for the NBA.
Despite his unique blend of skills that allowed him to dominate the league, Shaquille O'Neal was frequently criticized for entering training camp out of shape. At the time, O'Neal coming into the season out of shape was reportedly a cause of tension between him and Kobe Bryant.
As Shaquille O'Neal famously stated during his sit down with Bryant, he knew the situation was creating tension between the pair. Despite that, while speaking in an interview with Esquire in 2022, O'Neal pushed back on the narrative.
As he explained, his physique played little role in his success from season to season. When he won championships and MVP honors in LA, he did so in worse shape than he was in while playing for the Magic.
Shaquille O'Neal then switched gears, taking aim at former Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. As he explained, had the two competed in the same era, he could have put the moves on Gobert regardless of what shape he was in:
"They had no idea what they were talking about. Every training’s different. My thing is, even now, I don't have to train for you. Game is here. I can eat 50 burgers right now and bust Rudy Gobert's a*s. I'm telling you. Because it's the mentality, right?
"And then, when you took the beating I took, I’ve got to rest, I’ve got to recover, I’ve got to get off painkillers, right? And then when it comes time to train, I know what to do, I know how to do it.
"People always say, 'You came in out of shape.' I'm like, 'What year you talking about? Give me a year. Was it 2000, when I got the MVP? Was it 2001? What year are you talking about?'
"96 through 2000, when I came in shape, we got our a*s whooped."
Why Shaquille O'Neal is hard on modern NBA players
Over the years, Shaquille O'Neal has been criticized for being too hard on other players. From his criticisms of Rudy Gobert and Dwight Howard, O'Neal isn't known for holding his tongue.
At times, many have even called him out for being too hard on modern-day players. Last season, O'Neal took aim at Dwight Howard, as he has done in the past.
This time, however, Howard was ready to push back, and so were many NBA fans who grew tired of the four-time champ's criticism.
As O'Neal explained in a sit-down interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he believes it's simply a right of passage. When he got into the league, Abdul-Jabbar was hard on him. When Abdul-Jabbar got into the league years prior, it was Wilt Chamberlain who was hard on him.
As such, O'Neal feels as though there's no harm no foul regarding his criticisms. Of course, despite that, and recent pleasantries, O'Neal has no plans of sitting down with Dwight Howard to discuss things.