Chris Paul, Who Got Physically Assaulted by Lakers’ New Star, Asked a Heated Question by Shaquille O’Neal: “How Come He Didn’t Meet Him by the Buses Back There?”

Shaquille O’Neal called out Chris Paul while addressing the incident during last year’s playoffs when then Clippers guard Patrick Beverley assaulted Chris Paul from the back during Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals. The Big Diesel sounded off on the matter and refused to villainize Beverley for the incident. On the contrary, Shaquille O’Neal decided to call out Chris Paul on the subject.

The Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2021 playoffs in a six-game series to win the West. During the fourth quarter of Game 6, Patrick Beverley deliberately shoved Chris Paul from behind after the latter had just drained a jumper from beyond the arc. The incident led to a scuffle between the players of the two teams.

Subsequently, Beverley was ejected from the game. Afterwards, the Suns went on to bag the series and proceed to the NBA Finals.

Shaquille O’Neal calls out Chris Paul

During his Big Podcast, Shaquille O’Neal sounded off on the Los Angeles Lakers signing Patrick Beverley. In fact, the four-time NBA champion downplayed the rocky relationship between Russell Westbrook and Pat Bev.

According to Shaq, these kinds of conflicts usually get resolved at training camps. In other words, both Westbrook and Beverley are professionals. Therefore, they shouldn’t find it difficult to play in tandem on the same team.

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Meanwhile, podcast co-host Nischelle Turner brought up Beverley assaulting CP3 in the 2021 West Finals. In response, Shaq refused to underscore the culpability of the 6’1″ guard.

“I don’t care,” he declared. “If Chris Paul was so mad, how come he didn’t meet him by the buses back there!”

In other words, Dr. Neal refused to make a big deal out of the whole incident. The Lakers legend seemed to convey the message that brawls and physical altercations are a part of the game. And these issues should be resolved on the court itself.

The Lakers in the upcoming season

The Lakers face a steep challenge next season after a disappointing 2021-22 season. After almost an uneventful offseason, they recently managed to sign Patrick Beverley from the Utah Jazz.

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The entire summer, the NBA community anticipated a Russell Westbrook-Kyrie Irving trade that never actually happened. Newly appointed head coach, Darvin Ham now faces the task of fixing a dysfunctional roster ahead of the 2022-23 season.