NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has played for six franchises during his legendary NBA career that spanned 20 years. Draymond Green’s hard punch caught his Golden State Warriors teammate Jordan Poole right in the chops and it has sparked a lot of controversies. Everyone has shared opinions on the matter and that certainnly includes legendary NBA big man Shaquille O’Neal.
Shaquille O’Neal opens up on the matter
Shaq has made it clear that he’s squarely on Drayomnd’s side. Shaq talked about the Draymond Green situation on a recent episode of his podcast, The Big Podcast with Shaq.
“All you people messing with Draymond: Mind your damn business,” Shaq said, an opening line that got a surprised “Oooh” from co-host Nischelle Turner.
Shaq said that while fans like to think that the NBA is inherently nice and everyone gets along, that’s just not the reality in the world of high-level professional sports.
“You guys that don’t know anything about competitive sports, you have no idea what you’re talking about. So just shut the hell up and be a fan,” He said. “This happens all the time.”
It has been noted that Shaq pointed out, it’s not even the type of situation that should be unfamiliar to Warriors bench boss Steve Kerr. He was once on the receiving end of a fist to the mug courtesy of his then-Bulls teammate Michael Jordan, which Shaq mentioned.
Furthermore, Shaq said that he thinks the fight stemmed from a power struggle within the Warriors hierarchy.
“When you win a championship, the others come back they come back different,” he said. “Especially if it was an ‘other’ who played a big part in you winning. Jordan Poole definitely played a big part in them winning. So, I think a lot of times those people try to check their pecking order status. The pecking order status on that team belongs to three people: Draymond, Klay, and Steph.”
Shaq suggested that Poole simply got a little too chatty and sure of himself as he was close to a contract extension. He said Pool may have been, “talking a little too greasy to Draymond and Draymond had to check him. This happens.”
There are some out there who probably want to scream the term “victim blaming” at Shaq, but the way he sees it, the incident was just business as usual in the NBA.
