Shaquille O’Neal Digs Up Kobe Bryant’s Past to Double Down on Polarizing Chet Holmgren Stand

Shaquille O’Neal said it outright – he’s the president of the Big Men Alliance. He’s named Nikola Jokic as the vice president and Joel Embiid as the treasurer because they’ve played long enough and well enough to back the big man label. So when he came on The Stephen Smith Show, the ESPN veteran had to ask Shaq why he’s schooling the hype around the likes of Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama.

Shaq has been on the edge of the Wemby frenzy and then he prohibited the use of ‘phenomenal’ and ‘dominant’ adjectives for Chet while they’re still in their rookie seasons. “He [Holmgren] a good player but listen, he’s not up there with the KD, he’s not up there with the LeBron. Will he? I say hell yes, at some point in his career, in two-three years. But right now, let’s not put all this pressure on these kids.” 

When Smith countered that Shaq dealt with this pressure in his rookie year himself as the first overall draft pick after being a nationwide standout in LSU, O’Neal said that in his era only a handful of guys would come and make an impact right away. Most greats had to work their way up across seasons. He gave the example of his “late great friend,” Kobe Bryant.

“As great as he was, it took him about maybe a year, two years to become the Black Mamba,” O’Neal said. Bryant was drafted by the Lakers in 1996 when the team picked up free agent Shaq. It would be a few more years of Michael Jordan‘s dominance before Bryant, and the Shaq-Kobe combination would gain traction.

Kobe Bryant was the first player to be drafted straight out of high school at only 17. GM Jerry West was enamored by him and acquiring him also freed up salary cap to get Shaq.

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He entered the NBA in an era dominated by Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, and of course, Shaquille O’Neal. The Lakers gave him a chance to adjust to the veterans by keeping him on reserve initially.  His 6-minute debut made him the youngest player to play in an NBA game.

His time to shine came during the 1998 All-Star Weekend where he was the youngest on the team. But he would give himself the moniker of Black Mamba after 2003, three championships in with O’Neal. Having seen that meteoric rise firsthand, the Big Aristotle doesn’t want to give the young bigs the time to grow into their potential.

Shaquille O’Neal’s take on Chet Holmgren

On The Big Podcast, O’Neal checked his co-host Adam Lefkoe for what he thinks is unnecessary pressure on the rookies like Chet Holmgren.

“Y’all thrown’ around words that we had to work hard for. ‘Phenomenal’ is not the right… He’s good, but don’t be going ‘promising’ and ‘great’ and ‘future Hall-of-Famer,” the 4x NBA champion claimed.

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Several fans and analysts disagreed with him. Stephen A. Smith was one of them. He claimed Shaq is “sleeping” on Holmgren’s potential. But he did acknowledge that they have to earn the title.

Do you agree with Shaq that this is unfair pressure? Or is Smith right that Holmgren can take it?