After Commenting on Lizzo Fat Shaming Controversy, Shaquille O’Neal Labels Charles Barkley a “Big Elephant” in Front of 15000 people

Champion, millionaire, and an overall funny guy are often used to describe Shaquille O’Neal. The NBA legend has millions of followers around the world, thanks to his exploits both on and off the court.

Recently, Shaq was in conversation with renowned author and entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David in the latest edition of the PBD podcast. The event was attended by around 15,000 people as mentioned by Shaq himself and he decided to give them their time’s worth.

When asked whether anyone from the crowd had spotted the ‘big elephant’ in the room’, Patrick was met with silence. However, Shaquille O’Neal, like always, had a cheeky answer up his sleeve.

O’Neal said, “Who? Charles Barkley? Charles are you here?” As expected, the crowd and the host went into a huge burst of laughter over Shaq’s wittiness. 

Interestingly enough, O’Neal had commented on comedian Aries Spears who was accused of ‘fat shaming’ popular musician Lizzo. In other words, the Big Diesel had defended the comedian’s freedom of speech. Afterwards, he also added that he and Charles Barkley make fun of each other’s weight all the time. So there’s no need to make a huge deal out of the situation. 

In the wake of his comments, Shaq once again proved his point by publicly calling his Inside the NBA co-host an elephant in front of 15000 people. However, the conversation soon turned in a different direction.

What did Kobe Bryant say about Shaquille O’Neal?

Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant are widely regarded as one of the greatest duos to ever play in the NBA. After all, they have three NBA titles together alongside multiple other accolades.

READ MORE: “Your Kidneys Are Kind of Weak”: Addicted to Painkillers, Shaquille O’Neal Was Warned of Possible Death by a Doctor

Despite their success together, Shaq’s work ethic is highly scrutinized and is touted as one of the major reasons why the Lakers got rid of him. When Kobe was asked about O’Neal and where would he be with Bryant’s work ethic, ‘The Mamba’ had a great answer.

He said, “He’d [Shaquille O’Neal] be the greatest of all time.” This interview with Bryant went viral on all social media and was a major talking point for some time.

O’Neal himself decided to address the point made by his former teammate. He talked about Kobe’s statement and simply said, “I would’ve been Shaq.“

Poor work ethic or not, Shaq has had one of the greatest NBA careers ever. He has four NBA titles to his name with 3 Finals MVP awards and a regular season MVP award. During retirement, he averaged 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.

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What is your favorite memory of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant? Let us know in the comments down below.