In the ongoing feud between Shaquille O’Neal and Rudy Gobert, it was Udonis Haslem who surprisingly stepped in. After Gobert accused Shaq of being “triggered,” a seemingly passive Haslem, speaking on “The OGs,” indirectly advised Gobert to focus on proving himself on the court rather than through social media. Haslem suggested that Gobert’s teammate, Anthony Edwards, may offer a better path to silencing critics.

On the podcast, Haslem made it clear that he’s siding with Shaq in the dispute. Haslem believes Gobert should respond to criticism by delivering strong performances on the court. He argued that Gobert has not lived up to the expectations that come with his four Defensive Player of the Year awards. Haslem echoed Shaq’s sentiment that winning Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) awards is not enough to silence critics.

“Win a championship and shut us the f— up,” is what UD challenged; especially when he’s playing alongside a rising start like ANT.

Haslem emphasized Edwards’ potential, saying, “You got a young dog over there with you, you win a championship. You got a dog, so win a championship and everybody shut the f— up“. He placed the onus on Gobert to deliver results alongside his talented teammate.

Edwards was pivotal in the Timberwolves‘ 2023-24 playoff run, their deepest since the Kevin Garnett era. However, Gobert’s performance failed to quell his critics, including Haslem.

Udonis Haslem felt Rudy Gobert mishandled criticism

Haslem dubbed Gobert a “defensive liability” in the playoffs and said the team should limit his minutes to win. He was even disappointed Shams Charania voted Gobert for DPOY. The 3x champion’s opinion hasn’t changed since then until the Timberwolves win a championship.

Earlier this month, O’Neal sat across his eldest son, Myles, on a Complex Q&A and declared Rudy Gobert the WOAT (the Worst Of All Time). It’s not the first time he’s been critical of Gobert and O’Neal keeps waiting to be proven wrong. The 4x NBA champion even contends there is nothing personal between them and wants Gobert to up his game.

Instead, Rudy wrote on X, “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.”

Haslem believes a better way to respond to Shaq would’ve been through the game. He won his first championship (and Shaq’s fourth) seeing O’Neal respond to critics that way. But Gobert’s response made him feel like athletes today would rather get personal than prove the criticism wrong.