In the NBA world, few names shine as bright as Shaquille O’Neal. The 7-foot-1 center dominated the basketball court for nearly two decades. But Shaq’s impact extends far beyond hardwood. As an analyst, he has become notorious for his unfiltered comments. From criticizing James Harden for his leadership to questioning Donovan Mitchell’s abilities, the Los Angeles Lakers standout has got himself into numerous discussions. Now it seems the seven-footer has reignited another one which he had with the Minnesota Timberwolves player: Rudy Gobert.

In a recent episode of “The OGs podcast” former NBA player Udonis Haslem brought up the topic of a recent feud between Shaq and Rudy Gobert and wanted the 52-year-old to give an apt reply to what Gobert had commented. The former Lakers player didn’t spare time in doing so and involved his mother Lucille O’Neal in the answer.

“If you talking about your accomplishments of those little trophies you got that’s not enough… To stay relevant I don’t want to be relevant only thing I want is to be able to buy my mother anything she wants,” said Shaq during the podcast.

Shaquille O’Neal even pointed out the shortcomings in today’s players. According to him the comments he passes while analysing the player is just a test. The only aim behind these tests is that he wants to check whether the player learns from the mistake that he points out. But unfortunately, most of them hate Shaq for calling them out. “When I put out these challenges they fail the test because they respond…they sensitive now,” said the former center during the podcast. But what was the reason for the start of this feud?

In March during an episode of the “The Big Podcast“, Shaq had called out the Timberwolves’ center. According to the seven-footer, Gobert was an overrated defensive player. He had even called him out by saying that he wouldn’t be able to do anything against Nikola Jokic as he was currently doing against the players smaller than his size. “You want to impress me? Hold Joker under 15 points,” said Shaq during that podcast. Big Diesel had made these comments at that time because there was a high chance that Gobert would win the “NBA Defensive Player of the Year” for the seventh time which he ultimately did.

Gobert’s last season’s stat line was satisfactory, as he scored 14 PPG, 12.9 RPG and 1.3 APG in the 46 games that he played. He even helped France’s national basketball team to move towards the finals. Although, Shaq’s comments didn’t effect the playing style of the Timberwolves center, it has surely left a mark on him since he was quick to reply to Shaq’s comments.

Rudy Gobert’s answer to  Shaquille O’Neal’s comments

Besides commenting on Gobert’s ability to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Shaq had also targeted him by saying that he doesn’t deserve the $250 million contract since he is not performing up to that level. However, Gobert took to X to express his disappointment in what Shaq said.

The center emphasized how shocked he was to see someone who has achieved more than him talk little of him. “It is sad to see someone that has accomplished as much as you did @SHAQ both in sport and business still be triggered by another man’s finances and accomplishments. I get the entertainment part but unlike other folks, you don’t need that stuff to stay relevant,” wrote Gobert as the caption of the X post.

It was quite surprising to see that even after achieving so much as a new player in the league, Shaq had so much negative to say about him. The recent comments will add more fire to the feud. Only time will tell if Gobert will reply again or not.