Shaquille O Neal Fires Another Shot at Rudy Gobert in Brutal Reality Check

O’Neal added, “He’s making great-player money. $250M is a lot of money. I never made that.”

Gobert is currently making over $36 million in salary from his 3-year, $109.5 million veteran contract extension with Minnesota. From his previous contract, he was making over $40 million a year and even had a $46 million player option in 2025. Gobert has certainly pocketed the star player’s money.

Shaq has never been too happy with Gobert’s lack of big-man energy. During the interview, he even suggested that Gobert should at least “knock somebody on their head.”

Is Shaquille O’Neal’s criticism of Rudy Gobert fair?

The straightforward answer to the question, looking at it from Shaq’s perspective, is that Gobert absolutely deserves flak from the legend. The Lakers legend, “as the President of the Big Man Alliance,” has set a very high standard for a big man. It’s hard for any player to match that greatness. 

Shaq remains one of the most dominant players in NBA history. Unlike him, the Frenchman isn’t a big dunker like a traditional big man, nor is he good at dominating the paint like Shaq did. 

Gobert is a defensive player, and he primarily makes his impact in that area. To his credit, he is a historically great defensive player and continues to be the center of the Minnesota Timberwolves defense. 

He is a seven-time NBA All-Defensive First Team player, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, and a four-time All-NBA. Gobert’s resume is indeed elite from what he does best.

Defense, especially in the modern NBA, isn’t an eye catcher. In the offense-oriented game of today, Gobert’s elite impact might not even appear on paper, let alone to the naked eye.

So, do you think Shaq rightly criticizes him? Or do you feel Gobert has done enough not to get criticized?