Shaquille O’Neal Puts LeBron James’ Michael Jordan Quest Under Scrutiny

In a rapidly expanding debate about ring culture, there are some who still crave that glory. Shaquille O’Neal once made a bid for it. He recognizes his former teammate’s bid for it too. But he’s a little hesitant about betting on LeBron James’ attempt to catch Michael Jordan. James is pushing the boundaries at 38 years old with a fair few injuries and new scoring records. It remains to be seen if he can surpass, let alone match, His Airness with more championships.

Shaq once took a shot at earning another chip. However, the 4x champion conceded it wasn’t an easy task late into his career. He’s instead transitioned to a multi-faceted post-NBA career.

Shaquille O’Neal keeps LeBron James’ aspirations in check

Keeping to the theme of his newest business venture in Mexico, Shaquille O’Neal spoke to Cancha about the multi-hyphenate life. That also includes his career as a retired NBA pro and current analyst. And he has an analysis of LeBron James’ attempt to win another chip before he retires.

Shaq was asked about what he thinks of the Lakers under LeBron James and Anthony Davis. O’Neal sees an unavoidable issue. “Injuries, age, are already old,” O’Neal said. “The competition is very hard in the NBA, and there are teams like the Phoenix Suns, or the Golden State Warriors that are very hard, right, they already won the title in the bubble, and LeBron wants to win one more to tie Kobe Bryant (with five) and get closer to Michael Jordan, but achieving it will be very difficult.”

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Michael Jordan has six rings to his name and Kobe Bryant has five. Both LeBron and Shaq have four championship titles. In his 21st season, James has shown very little decline in on-court performance. But there’s discussion about the Lakers trying to reduce their dependency on him and Anthony Davis’ inconsistency is concerning fans. He’s still gunning for that fifth championship while breaking personal records. This week, he breached the 39,000 points mark, the only NBA player in history to do so.

Like James, O’Neal also tried to extend his NBA career for a fifth championship. He made a final shot at it by signing with the Boston Celtics because he wanted to make a winning combination with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. He was 38 then and riddled with injuries and couldn’t bring much to the team except locker room morale. Therefore, he took himself out of the running by retiring in 2011.

Shaquille O’Neal’s current goals

O’Neal would admit that it was hard to accept that his age, health, and diminishing athleticism didn’t make him that dominant center anymore. He felt he “robbed” the Celtics from the 2010-11 championship. After he retired, there was talk about him playing in the Mexican league. He’d jokingly confess he was furious when his former teammate Kobe Bryant won his fifth ring.

Now O’Neal believes Mexico has immense potential for NBA expansion. He’s currently promoting one of his many businesses, ElShaq, there. Lately, the dad of six with his youngest on the college track has made peace with his age.

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Shaq can relate to LeBron’s passion. Do you think James can make his goal or will history repeat itself?