Despite being one of the most influential players in NBA history, the Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal has not managed to escape the imprint of his underwhelming final years in the league. The legendary center still gets dragged for not playing up to the expectations during his retirement tour. However, now it seems that O’Neal is fed up with the criticism and is ready to clap back with his usual candor.
The Celtics version of Shaquille O’Neal earned comparisons to Paul George‘s poor performance against the Phoenix Suns. In the loss, George shot 5-18 making merely 28% of his field goals. This did not sit well with Shaq and he took to Twitter to respond, “Celtic Shaq had four rings while u was cheering in your moms basement,” O’Neal wrote back.
The Twitter handle received the Charles Barkley treatment as they were reminded of the Hall of Famer’s four rings. O’Neal never thinks twice to call out the haters but this time the comparison may not be far-fetched. The ‘Inside the NBA’ panelist only averaged 9.2 points during his last season with the Celtics. Despite George averaging 16.2 points, the star’s inconsistent performance has been a problem for the team.
Celtic shaq had four rings while u was cheering in your moms basement
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) January 7, 2025
However, unlike Shaq, George does not have many accomplishments on his resume – particularly when it comes to championships. By the time, O’Neal reached Boston, the star had already established a respectable career. This might have been the reason for Shaq’s unexpected outburst on social media.
Shaquille O’Neal has usually been critical of Paul George
Shaq was seemingly in a hostile mood as he also took a jab at his well-known rival Dwight Howard on social media. However, the star has also never hidden his feelings about Paul George over the years. Even during his LA Clippers years, O’Neal has always called out PG for letting his team down.
From telling the Clippers to trade the star in 2020, Shaq went to great lengths to criticize George. Last January, O’Neal showed his disappointment with George’s response after he asked the player about the team’s future in the season. Even recently, not even a week ago, O’Neal even trolled George on social media by reposting a post that referred to George as “a**” with the other aging players in the league.
With getting offended by his criticism, it seems as if Shaq’s response came from a place of grudges. It is safe to say that dragging the 52-year-old’s name into conversations with bad performances is not a good idea. Especially with the players he dislikes.
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