It was all about the big men when Shaquille O’Neal came on The Stephen A. Smith Show. The longtime bickerers hashed out their differences in opinion over some of the reigning stars. Shaq doesn’t pick favorites easily but he puts Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid in the exclusive big men alliance. He’s also realistic and he knows Embiid has an unfair disadvantage within the NBA media.

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“They’re both great players but if Joel [Embiid] doesn’t win, you’re gonna kill him,” O’Neal referred to Smith but also the ESPN collective. “You, your show, you, Big Perk, JJ Redick.” For his part, Smith had no qualms confirming they’d be harder on the 76ers star. The defining factor in this difference of treatment is the ring. “Joker has that edge – he’s won, right? Even though you know the numbers are different.” 

O’Neal faced similar narratives. From winning rookie of the year to taking Orlando Magic to the NBA finals in his third season, his stat sheet was impressive. But Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and most of the NBA media didn’t give him his due credit because he had not won a championship and Shaq admits it’s the hard truth.

“Joel Embiid is a fabulous talent, definitely number one, number two. But if he doesn’t win in this world we live in, you’re going to kill him,” the 4x NBA champion repeated.

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O’Neal’s not off the mark but he’s not entirely accurate either. After The Process won the MVP award, Kendrick “Big Perk” Perkins amped the pressure saying he needs to win a title for the 76ers now. But he admitted his expectations come from being biased towards Embiid.

When Stephen A. Smith refused to count Jokic among the best centers like Shaq, JJ Redick came to his defense. However, he has also defended Embiid from criticism, including all the talk about his lack of rings.

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“We’re falling into the same trap that we had around Giannis [Antetokounmpo] in ’19 and ‘2- and around [Nikola] Jokic in ’22 and ’23,” Redick said on his own podcast. “Which is like ignoring the greatness and just saying, ‘oh, until he wins I don’t want to hear it.’ Is that fair? Is that doing basketball a disservice?”

Shaq is sometimes guilty of going back and forth similarly on TNT too. But isn’t that the life of top MVP contenders?