Shaquille O’Neal Shuts Up Tracy McGrady’s Claim Diminishing Tim Duncan’s Importance for the Spurs

Shaquille O’Neal is a legend of the NBA. His impactful presence was the reason behind the Los Angeles Lakers winning three rings and the Miami Heat winning their first title. The ‘Big Aristotle’, in fact, was named league MVP during his time as a Laker. So he does know what it takes to win the award and the kind of player it should be given to.

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One of Shaq’s foes in the NBA was another superstar named Tim Duncan. Duncan, as the frontman of the San Antonio Spurs, led them to all five of their NBA championships. Additionally, Duncan was also a 2-time MVP and a 3-time Finals MVP. In light of this, Shaq spoke about the importance of the Spurs’ legend and the impact he had on the franchise.

Shaquille O’Neal Speaks about Tim Duncan

During a recent episode of ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq’, the ‘Diesel’ engaged in a debate with fellow Hall-Of-Famer Tracy McGrady. The duo first agreed on the fact that the criteria for choosing an MVP in today’s league are unfair. Thereafter, McGrady used himself as an example to support the unfairness of the criteria.

He claimed that back in the 2002-03 season, he was the sole reason behind the Orlando Magic making the playoffs, and hence deserved the MVP award over Tim Duncan.

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This is where Shaq disagreed and explained the importance of Tim Duncan when McGrady claimed that even in Duncan’s absence, the Spurs would be successful.

“No, they don’t,” exclaimed Shaq in disagreement.

“Because a lot of those guys got their success off of him (Tim Duncan),” explained Shaq.

Thereafter, McGrady claimed that even if Tim Duncan were absent, the Spurs would still qualify for the playoffs. This caused Shaq to explain his point of view.

“Nah. They win games, but they don’t make the playoffs,” said Shaq.

“If you take Tim off the team, they don’t have the same success,” he added.

Furthermore, Shaq claimed that Tim Duncan was essential for the success of Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Clearly, the ‘Diesel’ knows about the importance of Duncan on the Spurs. Duncan is a legend of the game, and probably the greatest Spurs player of all time. Moreover, Shaq’s first-hand experience battling it out with Duncan. Hence, the former knows the impact of the Spurs’ centerpiece.