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via Getty

via Getty

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal admitted that he is jealous of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. In a recent podcast episode, Shaq said that he envied LeBron as he is about to surpass NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time highest scorer in the league’s history. Additionally, Shaq said that given the tensions between James and Abdul-Jabbar, the former handled the situation very well when asked to comment on his relationship with the six-time NBA champion.

In the latest episode of ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq’, co-host Nischelle Turner talked about how LeBron James dismissed a question regarding Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. While Turner felt what James did was disrespectful towards Abdul-Jabbar, Shaq and former NFL veteran Anthony ‘Spice’ Adams had different opinions.

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Shaq stated that it was not impolite and added that he too has had to deal with Abdul-Jabbar several times during his playing career. The Big Diesel said that Abdul-Jabbar had criticized him a lot of times when he was still an NBA player. However, rather than hurting his feelings, the criticisms instead drove Shaq to prove himself. Furthermore, Shaq reminded Turner that Abdul-Jabbar has criticized LeBron on several occasions before.

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O’Neal explained that as players are about to dethrone someone as their successor, they hope to get a call from that person. It could very well be either to acknowledge the new ranking or to congratulate them.

“You know, we’d like to get that call first from a guy that’s right right there. I’m in the same room, I’m not as high as you on that floor but I’m in the same building, I got the same access card,” said Shaq.

Shaquille O’Neal gives some tips to LeBron James

On October 4, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James reportedly made a dismissive comment regarding NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. A reporter asked James about his thoughts on Abdul-Jabbar and if they had any relationship. In response, James simply said, “No thoughts. And no relationship.”

As the conversation continued in the podcast, Shaquille O’Neal went on to speak in support of LeBron James. Shaq defended ‘King James’, saying that he was simply being truthful. In fact, Shaq said that he would have behaved in the same way had he been in James’ place.

“And…I would have been the same d**n way. Because I always say if I want to pass up Wilt Chamberlain, I would have arrogantly told the world, ‘I am the most dominant guy in the world I don’t want to hear nobody else’ f*****g name, period,'” said Shaq.

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Furthermore, adding that he was jealous of LeBron James and would love to be in his spot, Shaq said, “LeBron, get your arrogance on brother. Because you need to do it, you’re in demand now. You got the juice.”

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Similarly, Spice agreed with Shaq and said that LeBron handled the situation pretty well. The former NFL player believed that if a person didn’t have anything nice to say then it was better not to say anything at all.

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Do you agree with Shaq and Spice? Or do you think LeBron James was being disrespectful towards Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.