“They Scare Me”: Shaquille O’Neal Admits Not Paying Attention To Paris Olympics In Frustrated Claim

Of all the hilarious digs Shaquille O’Neal takes on people, this one’s the best. Well, as it turns out, everyone’s beloved giant, Shaq, isn’t really paying attention to what’s happening across the Atlantic. Yes! He “doesn’t care” about the Olympics, or the Dream Team 2.0.

In the latest rendition of ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq’, hosted alongside Adam Lefkoe, he really did not hold anything back. Witnessing the current Team USA in Paris has been a rather frustrating experience for him. When Lefkoe asked him about his opinion, Shaq claimed, “I am not even paying attention to the Olympics.”

It is just as surprising to us as it was for Adam. He followed with, “Really!? As a former Olympian? Dream Team 2 doesn’t interest you?”

The NBA legend was way past the trouble of witnessing the pitiful state of his dream team as he replied, “They scare me. … It is like the fact they went 97 to 95 and they only beat South Sudan by one. Come on, bro! That’s never supposed to happen.” And even when Adam tried to instill some logic in Shaq‘s statements by saying that even during the Olympics, they’re competing against many NBA stars, Shaq still thinks this is an excuse.

O’Neal seemed unhappy with the excuses Team USA is making for its own troubles as the world was getting closer to the NBA athletes. Addressing it, Shaq said, “A professional player is a professional player. Bad enough, we got all these Europeans.”

Ultimately, Shaq set his parameter for the Dream Team 2.0 as he announced on his podcast, “If you don’t win by 20, I’m not impressed by it”. The words alone from Shaq were enough to express the NBA Hall of Famer’s agony since the campaign that his team had at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996; it was nothing short of a completely crushing and dominant victory.

Dream Team III 1996: Shaquille O’Neal’s and Co. dominant Olympic run

After Michael Jordan passed the baton in 1992 for the others to go for the Olympic Gold medal, another team, future Hall of Famers, was put together to dominate the world stage once again. It featured NBA legends like Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller, Grant Hill, David Robinson, and Shaquille O’Neal. With such a ferocious squad, when Team USA entered the Olympics campaign, it dominated the charts as they won the group matches for no less than 20 and more than 30 points against opponents.

The only contenders that gave Dream Team III a run for their money, limiting their loss margin to about 20, were silver medalist Yugoslavia, Bronze medalist Lithuania, and an exceptional quarter-finalist Brazil. Apart from them, Team USA’s victory against other opponents was lingering around the margin of 30 points.

Overall, it was rather a disheartening experience for other teams. That’s why Shaquille O’Neal has so high expectations from the Dream Team 2.0, and he should be considering the latter’s status. With the encounters that we are witnessing on the court from the new generation of basketball legends, it might be better to presume it isn’t completely honoring the dominance of Team USA on the world stage.

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.