The beef between NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal and Utah Jazz star center Rudy Gobert is something no one could have expected to trend on social media and be a talking point on sports debate shows.
Gobert's issue with Shaq stems from an episode on his show "The Big Podcast," where at first, O'Neal complimented the big man for being a great defensive player but said Gobert "offers nothing" on the offensive end of the court.
"Rudy’s a great player, a fine defensive player but he offers nothing on the offensive end. Like he has no post moves," O’Neal said.
Spice Adams, a co-host on the podcast, told O’Neal he thought Gobert could hold him to "like 12 points."
O’Neal responded: "Yeah – in the first three minutes."
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year caught wind of The Big Disiel's comments and responded under an Instagram post from Bleacher Report, claiming he'd "lock his a** up" if O'Neal was still playing.
O'Neal, being the master troll that he is, shared a screenshot of Gobert's comment on Instagram with the caption, "Locked up."
Not backing down from his original stance, Gobert replied to O’Neal’s post stating that he's confident Shaq would've had a tough time dealing with him.
“I believe that I would’ve given you a harder time than anyone else ever gave you. Am I overconfident about my abilities? I guess we'll never know. That would’ve been fun.”
It would be hard to deny Gobert's credentials as one of the best bigs in the NBA today. He’s averaged more than two blocks per game since his second season in the league and has recorded a double-double in each season since 2016-17.
With that being said, O'Neal is a Hall of Fame center who is 7'1" and weighed 300 plus pounds--which is more than 100 pounds more than Gobert weighs (245.) O'Neal's size, mixed with his elite athleticism and physicality would be like trying to stop a Mack truck going at full speed.
O'Neal finished his career as a 15-time All-Star, 14-time All-NBA First Team member, three-time All-Defensive First Team member and a four-time NBA champion.
It's safe to assume that if Gobert and O'Neal ever played against each other, instead of barbeque chicken--Shaq would be serving up French-style crepes.
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