2 Years After ‘Threatening to Punch’ Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O’Neal Reiterates Michael Jordan As GOAT in Front of 31,200,000 Followers
While many experts and former players have opinions on the GOAT debate, Shaquille O’Neal often refrains from discussing this topic. Perhaps, he does not like this raging debate, mainly because he is not a player in the discussion for spot numero uno. However, on many occasions, he has instead been split-minded about this debate. In one of his recent Instagram stories, the Big Aristotle seems to side with Michael Jordan as the GOAT. He shared a post by SLAM with his 31,200,000 followers, letting them know who he thinks is the greatest player.
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On numerous other occasions, Shaq has even defended people questioning Jordan and his legacy. For instance, the Diesel once threatened to punch Scottie Pippen in the esophagus after the former Bulls star’s comments following ‘The Last Dance.’ Shaq disagreed with Pippen calling himself a better player and a teammate than Michael Jordan, another raging debate that fans often engage in.
Shaquille O’Neal shares a video on Instagram claiming Michael Jordan is the ‘GOAT’
Shaquille O’Neal shared a video on his Instagram story. Through it, he claimed his side in the GOAT debate, despite being known to often give opinions closer to the median. The video clearly claims Jordan is the greatest ever, with Scottie Pippen only being the best defender. You can find the screenshot of his Instagram story in the tweet by @NBACelebsUpdate.
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The video from SLAM Office Rapid Fire features Omari Hardwick, a.k.a., The Ghost, mentioning some of his best picks in basketball. Among his picks, he chooses MJ as the greatest NBA player of all time and Scottie Pippen as the best defender. He also chose Bill Russell’s Celtics as the best NBA team for winning 11 championship titles.
What seems rather strange here is how Shaq has quickly changed his opinions. At one point in time, he was throat-to-throat with Pippen for disregarding Jordan. And now, he is sharing a post with his 31,200,000 followers acknowledging both players’ greatness. While Jordan and Pippen’s accomplishments can’t be denied, it does seem like the Big Man still feels a tad bit upset his name is never up there in the GOAT debate.
While there is no doubt Shaq is arguably the greatest center the league has ever seen, there are many reasons why his name does not appear in the GOAT debate. In the 2022 Hall of Fame ceremony, Del Harris remarked Shaq would have been in the same conversation if he had the seriousness of Kobe Bryant. Even the Mamba himself claimed that Shaq would have won 12 NBA championships if he’d had a serious work ethic. Nevertheless, Shaq had a glorious career, enough to etch his spot in the all-time top 10 list.
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Shaquille O’Neal defends LeBron James while hailing Michael Jordan as the GOAT
Shaquille O’Neal has never outrightly commented on if he considers Michael Jordan as his GOAT. However, many times like in the above instance, he has hailed His Airness in the GOAT debate. In May 2023, Shaq shared another post on Instagram, which tallied the skills of all top players with Michael Jordan. And interestingly, Jordan had all the skills of the mentioned players in the list.
However, this does not mean that Diesel disregards LeBron in this debate. In another one of his stories from May, Shaq called out all LeBron haters and appreciated the King’s longevity. Shaq gave a shoutout to Bron with a post that hailed him for scoring 40 point average over 20 seasons. Growing up in the ’80s decade, Shaq might reserve the spot for MJ in his GOAT agenda. However, fans are yet to hear it from the Big Man, whom he actually considers the greatest NBA player.
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