Former Miami Heat champion and All-Timer Shaquille O’Neal has always spoken his mind. This time, he’s firing back at former L.A. Laker teammate, Kobe Bryant.
The great poet and philosopher Christopher Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls or The Notorious B.I.G., once posed a very good question to the world. “What’s Beef?” Simple, but elegant, sort of the like the Miami Heat’s mantra of Heat Culture.
To Biggie, the answer was many things that culminated in a hospital visit for the unlucky patron on the other end of the confrontation. It’s safe to say that Biggie’s definition is a bit more than the simplicity of the nature of beefs today. It is also safe to say that B.I.G wouldn’t have had the patience to be engulfed in what we now most commonly know as beefs or a beef, the ever so prevalent and modern-day Social Media Beef.
Another larger than life human does though and his name is Shaquille O’Neal, or more affectionately known, Shaq. Apparently, his former L.A. Laker teammate in Kobe Bryant has a few not so friendly words to say about the big man, who won championships with him and without him as a member of the Miami Heat might I add. Here it is, see for yourself.
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1166712257025323008
It’s safe to say these words didn’t go over so well with the former Laker and Miami Heat big man. Here is the response to these words from the Diesel himself.
Shaq coming with HEAT at the Mamba pic.twitter.com/OFTMRELRAX
— NBA Best Matchups (@NBABestMatchups) August 28, 2019
Well, Shaq does have a point, but perhaps Bryant does too. It is a well-known secret that at least a few people involved with both Shaq’s championship-winning organizations in the Miami Heat and L.A. Lakers may have felt this way at some point. The thought in particular that you most often hear floated around is that although he was still one of the most imposing and dominant big men and figures that the NBA has ever seen, he could have been so much more if he really dedicated himself to working on his body, conditioning, and etcetera.
While this may be true, you still have to go back to O’Neal’s statement, which is “you don’t get statues by not working hard”. Those are what we like to call facts ladies and gentlemen. Regardless of how you feel about the big man though, his resume doesn’t lie.
He is a four-time NBA Champion, accruing three in Los Angeles as a member of the franchise’s second three-peat while also tacking on one with the Miami Heat after coming over in 2004. He is a 15-time All-Star, three-time MVP of the NBA All-Star game, two-time scoring champion, 14 time All-NBA teamer, All-Rookie teamer, Rookie of the Year award winner, three-time NBA Finals MVP, three-time All-Defensive teamer, and the MVP of the 1999-2000 season just to throw a cherry on top.
You can’t argue with the man’s resume. Could you argue with his career and what he could have possibly accomplished if he had worked harder as Kobe insinuates, nope, not really.
While people will always have their feelings about what someone else could have done, if you can’t find at least five other people that accomplished what they did do, then your argument is a moot point. That is the case in this scenario. Well played Shaq, well played.