Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t appear thrilled with how the trendy NBA is performed.
And he actually doesn’t appear to be a fan of former Web and present Clipper Ben Simmons.
Throughout an episode of “The Massive Podcast” this week, O’Neal sat down with comic Roy Wooden Jr. and opened up on the state of basketball, which the Basketball Corridor of Famer was not significantly eager on.
“Individuals get mad. It’s only a product of what I’ve seen,” O’Neal stated when requested about LeBron James’ longevity being tied to the change in physicality within the NBA. “I’ve seen what greatness is, been there, performed with ’em. I don’t see that on a regular basis over right here. So, you need me to provide these motherf–kers the identical props you giving them? That s–t won’t ever occur. You possibly can name it hate in order for you.”
And whereas O’Neal stated he and fellow “Contained in the NBA” panelist Charles Barkley have been criticized for calling out the trendy sport as in comparison with how issues had been performed within the Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s, O’Neal continued that the “product is s–t.”
O’Neal did concede that sure gamers — specifically Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Nikola Jokic and Damian Lillard can play — however he was not an enormous fan of Simmons, the oft-injured star.
“However Ben Simmons [needs] to be f–king arrested. $250 [million] for that bulls–t? Get the f–okay out of my face. Robbing individuals, man. You possibly can’t try this.”
Simmons, the No. 1 total choose in 2016 by the 76ers, instantly started his profession with spectacular feats, profitable Rookie of the Yr earlier than getting named to 3 straight All-Star groups.
In 2019, he and Philadelphia agreed to a $170 million contract extension, however in many of the subsequent seasons, he’s had hassle staying on the courtroom.
He missed all of 2021-22 with an damage, and after the deal that landed him in Brooklyn and despatched James Harden to the 76ers, Simmons missed massive chunks of instances with numerous accidents and didn’t put up the identical All-Star numbers he had in Philadelphia.
Simmons was finally purchased out by the Nets earlier this 12 months earlier than signing with the Clippers, with whom he’s performed the final 17 video games and averaged 3.6 factors and three.4 assists in 17.5 minutes.
In response to Spotrac, Simmons has made $203,356,689 in profession earnings by 2024.
Simmons advised The Submit’s Jared Schwartz on the finish of March that he lastly feels at dwelling in Los Angeles.
“Looks like dwelling, actually,” Simmons stated. “I by no means actually felt like New York was dwelling for me. Being in LA, I really feel like me as an individual, it’s my sort of surroundings or setting to be in. I feel I thrive in conditions like that. It was a blessing and an incredible expertise to be in New York and expertise being in New York Metropolis, there’s no metropolis on this planet prefer it.
“However I’m glad the place I’m at, I like being in LA.”
