The 8th-seeded Miami Heat created history after knocking out the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in round 1 of playoffs on Wednesday. While the Heat celebrated their astounding victory, Giannis Antetokounmpo faced heat during the post-game press interaction. However, the NBA Champion grabbed the hoops community’s attention with his riveting analogy about failure during the press meet. Following his take, Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal drew a parallel with the Greek Freak, a day after his frustrating loss.
The Heat produced a dominant effort to eliminate the Bucks with a crushing 4-1 record in the series. After the game, Antetokounmpo addressed the press and didn’t seem happy with a particular question directed at him. A reporter asked him whether the current season was a failure. The Greek Freak went ahead to teach a lesson to the reporter with his analogy about failure, and in the process, earned plaudits from the NBA world.
Shaquille O’Neal empathizes with Giannis Antetokounmpo
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Ever since Giannis Antetokounmpo made his riveting statement, the entire sports community made it a gospel. In short, the Bucks superstar said that there is no failure in sports but only good days and bad days. Following his statement, Shaquille O’Neal had an interesting take during Inside the NBA. He said, “Is the season a failure? Yes. Are you a failure? Hell m-f no. You’re the best player in the world. But before you succeed, you must first learn to fail… It’s okay.”
"Is the season a failure? Yes. Are you a failure? Hell m-f no. You're the best player in the world. But before you succeed, you must first learn to fail… It's okay. You can learn from failure. You can bounce back."
Shaquille O'Neal on Giannispic.twitter.com/XVTDkQp9F4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 28, 2023
Moreover, the Lakers legend highlighted his career as an example to prove his point. He said, “If you say I played 20 years and failed 16 of them, I’d say, “You’re right”… It’s okay. You can learn from failure. You can bounce back.”
Several other famous personalities gave their opinion on the Bucks superstar’s statement, including Will Smith and Charles Barkley.
Barkley’s take on the statement
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Moments after the statement on Wednesday, Barkley made his opinion. He said, “I agree with Giannis, they just got beaten, you don’t always win… Shaq played how many years and he won 4 championships, I don’t think he had 15 years of losing.”
Despite the exit, the Greek Freak won the hearts of many with his awakening statement at the end. O’Neal isn’t one who easily praises someone. Just ask Rudy Gobert about what the four-time NBA champion thinks of him. So getting O’Neal’s seal of approval should be a good sign for the Greek superstar.
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What do you make of Shaquille O’Neal’s take on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s failure analogy? Let us know in the comments below.
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