Bill Simmons Uses Shaq to Fat Shame 230lbs Luka Doncic With Nasty Dig

After the way, Game 3 went down for Luka Doncic, Stephen A. Smith was bound to say something. He and Bill Simmons just had to drag his frenemy into it. His TNT counterpart, Shaquille O’Neal struggled with his weight and conditioning through most of his later career. So when he comments on players not taking workouts seriously enough, he’s speaking from experience. This is a criticism that Doncic has to now suffer through after his defensive flaws were laid bare in Game 3 of the finals. That too after he’s had a record-breaking season. While Shaq refrained from commenting on Game 3, Smith and Bill Simmons threw his name in any way.

Smith and Simmons talked about Dallas’ 0-3 skid and Doncic’s troublesome game on NBA Radio ahead of Game 4. Simmons said, “When Shaq is saying this guy’s out of shape you know you’ve hit rock bottom.” And Smith found it hilarious. To be fair, there’s no evidence of Shaq saying this on the record. It could just be a wake-up call by Simmons and Smith.

What Smith really spoke about is all the mockery and criticism Doncic is getting after one game. “It’s rare when you’re to a star’s lack of effort. It’s rare. You don’t say that often. You looking at them and  saying, ‘Damn, you ain’t even trying on this end of the floor. What are you doing? You’re leaving other cats hangin’.’ Nah, that’s not something you’re supposed to be able to stay about [the star].” 

Luka’s defensive skills as opposed to his consistently strong offense brought up a subject that’s rarely discussed when he’s a scoring machine. Many insiders claim that he disregards strength and conditioning training during the offseason and gets into shape playing regular season games. Which of course, Shaq and his other frenemy, Charles Barkley vehemently oppose. So people may be seeing a lack of effort from Doncic which Smith says is uncommon.

Simmons just misused Shaq there to make a point. O’Neal is known to make such jabs at players on TNT but has not done so regarding Doncic. If he did, you’d notice.

What Shaq really thinks about Luka Doncic

That time Doncic was on a high-scoring streak, Jason Kidd tried to insert him in that discussion. Simmons at that time was sure Doncic was at least on a record-breaking path. O’Neal was not vehemently opposed like others, but did say it’s too soon to tell. The most he’s told Doncic recently is thank you in Russian and sing him a Slovenian song.

During the playoffs, Shaq shared the crazy stats Doncic racked up this season on Instagram proving he was impressed by it. But he’s not commented on his finals performance.

When Shaq did call another player out of shape, it was Zion Williamson, who was also notorious for using the regular season games as a workout. O’Neal and Barkley were his biggest critics as two players who struggled to stay in shape. Both saw massive declines in their athleticism and were prone to injuries in the latter half of their careers, something they want these players to avoid. Wouldn’t hurt for Doncic to take note, anyway.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.