Shaquille O’Neal criticizes Victor Wembanyama, claiming he’d easily overpower the Spurs’ center with physical play if matched today.
SAN ANTONIO — Add this to the verbal shots Shaquille O’Neal has directed at San Antonio Spurs‘ Victor Wembanyama.
During a chat about Wemby (and Thunder’s Chet Holmgren), Shaq boldly stated that if he were playing in the league today, he would throw elbows at Wemby’s mouth, back him up in the post, and if the Spurs center decides to take three shots, he would run past him and force him to cry “three seconds” in the paint.
“Oh yeah! I am going to back his a** and elbow right into his (bleeping) mouth. You know what he’ll do all night? Shoot the (bleeping) three, and if he miss, I am going to run right by you and (bleeping ) post, and you’re going to be screaming ‘three seconds.’ I’ll make a (bleep) quit.”
Shaq explains that with Wemby at 7-4, he should dominate smaller defenders in the paint and not opt for three-pointers. He goes on to say that the first thing he’d do to Wemby and Holmgren would be to knock their teeth out because they won’t fight back.
As mentioned, this is not the first time Shaq has criticized Wemby and his ability to shoot three-pointers.
Speaking on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Sept. 2024, he questioned whether the 2024-25 NBA Rookie of the Year can dominate by taking jump shots.
“Wemby is a great player, but I don’t really think you can be dominant when you shoot jumpers a lot,” O’Neal said. “I think if he was an inside player at 7’5″, the answer will be ‘yes’ but when you shoot jumpers, you’re always going to go up and down. But he’s a fine player; I wish him well.”
He even argued that Wemby should not be the Defensive Player of the Year because of the Spurs’ poor record.
“The team’s 20 games under (expletive) .500. How are you the Defensive Player of the Year and your team’s not even (expletive) winning,” he said. “No disrespect to Wembanyama.”
Shaq is either trying to light a fire under Wemby with these verbal jabs or is not giving credit to the modern big that can extend his game beyond the paint and more like Wemby can.