Shaquille O’Neal is someone who is never afraid of delivering harsh criticism for anyone; even when it’s someone who’s considered as one of the best two-way players in the league. After speaking brutally about Ben Simmons on The Big Podcast, Simmons was likely provoked, leading to many a few words coming in from him against Shaq’s concerns.

Addressing the concerns, he made a statement to his doubters on media day. Talking about his back injuries, he said, “I think people forget me as a player when I’m healthy, I can play basketball, I’m pretty good, right? For me, it’s just being consistent with that, and staying on top of my body. Getting better every day and staying in the gym with these guys.”

With these comments, he probably addressed the situation, and also indirectly responded to Shaq’s comments. He tried to take control of the narrative through his statements. But this wasn’t something Shaq was looking for. The big man has criticized Ben Simmons more times than we can count in 2024 alone. Some of it got buried in Shaq’s take on Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert. Yet O’Neal has single-handedly fueled the doubts about Simmons’ longevity in proportion to that $177 million contract.

Comments from Simmons are coming in a week after O’Neal called him sensitive. “Ben is sensitive. He came in with a lot of hype… When he got exposed, we saw when he didn’t want to shoot in Atlanta, and he kept passing the ball, and everybody’s jumping on him he got exposed. The back thing, I let that go the first year, I’m not letting that go three years in a row… I can tell when he came back and played he is afraid of what people are going to say about him… Everybody knows in this world the back injury is the thing that you can’t really check.”

Simmons is seemingly in the mood for a revenge tour since Shaq implied he’s using his back as an excuse for playing poorly. Although Ben did say that he’s “not bad” at basketball.

The Nets are in the middle of a rebuild and the focus is on Ben Simmons. As Shaq said, the former first-overall draft pick started with a lot of hype. But he’s about to start the final year of his contract and is set to make $40 million. It somehow grinds O’Neal that he’s getting a big payday for not living up to the expectations.

Shaquille O’Neal wants his money’s worth

A month ago, Shaquille O’Neal decided to pick a fight with a few big men at once. In a Complex rapid-fire with his son, Myles, Shaq named his picks for the WOAT (Worst Of All Time). He named Rudy Gobert and then proceeded to say, “Ben Simmons is another bum,” According to Shaq, “If you sign a contract for 250, show me 250. There’s a reason why I talk funny or walk funny. Why I can’t turn my neck … Because I played for my 120.” 

He’s referring to his first nine-figure contract with the Lakers in 1996. Sure, you can’t deny Shaq made every penny worth it but his comments on Simmons, Rudy, and Wemby have been polarizing.

Gobert’s response to this stole the show and we almost forgot that Shaq even mentioned Simmons. O’Neal doubled down on his opinions on The Big Podcast about both players. But while Gobert’s response was direct, Simmons chose to address all the haters.