Earlier this year when the Los Angeles Lakers icon LeBron James became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, Shaquille O’Neal asked him a certain question that perhaps everyone in the hoops universe wanted to ask. Shaq asked whether King James considers himself the GOAT after achieving such a legendary feat. The four-time champion evaded the question by hinting at letting others decide it. Recently, the Big Diesel revisited the topic and revealed the real reason behind asking the 19x All-Star such a question.

Shaq was hospitalized for a while due to a hip replacement surgery. However, he has again started appearing on podcasts and shows lately. In one such podcast appearance, the Big Diesel spilled the beans about his ‘professional jealousy’ towards LeBron James.

Shaquille O’Neal confesses the real reason why he asked LeBron James such a question

In the latest episode of the I Am Athlete?podcast, Shaq joined the crew and discussed a plethora of intriguing topics. During the podcast, one of the co-hosts and former NFL veteran, Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones revealed that he had said James was the greatest player of all time when the Big Diesel asked him a question regarding the GOAT conversation. Jones subsequently asked the 3x Finals MVP why he asked him this question.

The former Los Angeles Lakers superstar said he asked him because he liked hearing people’s opinion on the debate. Thereafter, the 15x All-Star was asked who was the GOAT in his opinion, to which, the Big Diesel replied, “I don’t know.”

Following this, another co-host and former NFL veteran, Brandon Marshall said Shaq was messier than him for asking LeBron the GOAT question after he broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record. Therefore, the 15x All-Star confessed the real reason behind asking King James whether he considers himself the GOAT. Shaq said, “I wasn’t messy…It was a professional jealousy at that moment. I wish that was me.”

The Big Diesel continued, “I know Bron. He’s very nice, very humble…I’m really proud of that and like he gave the answer that I probably would have gave also but I like hearing the conversations.”

Shaq’s comments suggested that he badly wanted to be the one to break Kareem’s All-Time leading scorer’s record. However, his career’s trajectory didn’t allow him to even come close. Therefore, he had a bit of a ‘professional jealousy’ towards LeBron when the King achieved his dream feat.

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Shaq seemingly picks James as his GOAT

The former Lakers player was quite fortunate as he got to share the court with both The Chosen One and His Airness. Shaq played against MJ in the early years of his career whereas he played and even teamed up with the 4x Finals MVP in the later part of his career. Therefore, the 3x Finals MVP surely knows how good they were on the hardwood.

Lately, the former Lakers player shared a reel on his Instagram story that unveils the top 10 players of all time according to an Instagram user. The 19x All-Star occupied the top position on the list, followed by Jordan. Shaq sharing this reel made it look like he also agrees with the fact that James is the greatest player of all time.

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