Shaquille O’Neal is unstoppable. The four-time NBA champion recently had hip replacement surgery and is already making appearances on podcast shows. The former Lakers star has not let his rehab hold him back from being as present in the public eye as before. Earlier this week, Big Diesel appeared on the I AM ATHLETE podcast alongside former NFL athletes to talk about the Kevin Durant saga, professional jealousy with LeBron James, and other things.

Shaquille O’Neal speaks about professional jealousy in former NBA players

In the latest episode of the, I AM ATHLETE podcast, when talking about his jealousy of LeBron’s achievements, one of the panelists asked Shaq about his opinion on former players commenting on modern basketball and whether there was jealousy involved with this point of view. 

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Ashley N. Moss asked Shaq, “I like that you bring up the professional jealousy and that honesty because I wonder if that plays a part with a lot of the ‘oldheads’ as they call them the OGs in this new era, is there jealousy in that commentary sometimes?”

Shaquille took the opportunity to respond and defend the veteran NBA players. Big Diesel calmly and quite rationally explained that it is important to have the right ‘classification’ of the information presented. He went on to express, saying “because now, a lot of these guys get impressed when they’re really not that good… All it takes is one little one-hand catch, and oh my God! he’s one of the best. You know it and I know it, so if [the oldheads] say he ain’t and all that, they are gonna say y’all hating. But y’all know! I know that y’all knowing that [because] y’all got that classification.”

Shaq finally broke the silence on his jealousy of LeBron James

The conversation was sparked by Shaq’s confession of being jealous of King James. O’Neal has a history with LeBron, in that they both played for Cleveland during the 2009 season. Though Shaq retired at 39, LeBron is still playing his best at the age of 38. King James recently broke Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s all-time scoring record rendering Shaq ‘professionally jealous.’

Shaq admitted on the show that it was a moment of professional jealousy, as he wished he had been the one to break Kareem’s record instead. While Shaq wishes he could call himself the greatest, he speaks very highly of Lebron James and said he is proud of what he has achieved.

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What do you think of Shaq’s take on professional jealousy in the OG players? Does his rationale make sense? 

Let us know in the comments!