Emotional Shaquille O’Neal on Dealing With Ugly Criticism as an NBA Player: “When I Was 22-23, I Tried to Answer Everybody’s Criticism. And I Realized It’s More Than a Full Time Job”

Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most successful NBA players of all time. He played for six NBA teams in his 19-year-old career. However, he is primarily known for his stints with the Lakers and the Heat, where he won the four championships of his career.

NBA is one of the most competitive sports leagues in the world and requires the best level of athleticism and fitness to play. It’s incredible to know that Shaq stayed in the league for 19 years and managed to play for some of the best teams in the NBA. However, playing in a league like the NBA comes with a lot of criticism.

NBA stars are subject to constant criticism due to the high media visibility of the league and exposure to fans. Shaq also faced criticism during his career, sometimes related to his fitness, other times related to his form. Shaq has recently opened up on facing criticism during his career and how he handles that.

Shaquille O’Neal explains handling criticism during his NBA career

Shaq made an appearance on the recent episode of ‘The Jordan Harbinger Show‘. Jordan asked Shaq how he handled criticism during his career. Shaq then explained how he dealt with the constant criticism he faced during his playing career.

Shaq said, “No, when I was 22-23 I tried to answer everybody’s criticism, and I realized that it’s more than a full-time job,” 

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“It becomes stressful. We started getting anxiety, and then I realized that you can’t please everyone. That’s the same thing I tell my children now. So you see your hands, five fingers on your hand. Try to impress the five most important people in your life. That’s my panel. So, as long as they’re happy, I’m happy. Like whenever I start doing something crazy (counts) one-two-three-four-five will let me know that I have to switch it back up.”

Shaq joined the NBA at the age of 20 in 1992. He was selected by Orlando Magic during the 1992 NBA draft as the 1st overall pick. After a few years with the Magic, Shaq joined Lakers and won three championships.

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It’s incredible that Shaq managed to handle his criticism well throughout this career and answered them by performing on the court. That has certainly helped him to perform at a high level during his playing career.