Shaquille O’Neal is one of the best NBA players all of all time. Not only in his position, he is up there among the likes of Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. During his prime, Shaq was so dominant that the NBA even had to implement new rules just because of him. For context, the NBA brought changes to the backboards after he started breaking them regularly.
Now that he is 50 years old, you might think Shaq is relaxing during his evenings and enjoying his retirement. However, it seems like we could be far off from that imagination. Recently, Shaq made a post on his Instagram page, showing his physique. The post seemed to attract attention from fans, who commented on Shaq.
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Shaq posted a video of him after a workout at the gym. In the video, he looked astonishingly ripped for any normal person, let alone a 50-year-old retired NBA player. The caption was, “dam im old”.
Despite retiring 11 years ago, it seems like Shaq is still in top shape. This shocked many when they saw how defined and muscular O’Neal’s body was. However, not all of the fans took the post well. One fan tweeted at the video.
Did Shaquille O’Neal really put in the work too late?
“About 20 years too late ! You got paid big money to be In the best shape when you played. You disrespected fans, coaches, GM’s and owners. No one cares about what new product you’re pimping now for weight loss”, the tweet mentioned. The fan’s comments suggest that he/she thinks that Shaq wasted his prime years. As they said, the former LA Lakers star was in fact promoting a performance formula product.
About 20 years too late ! You got paid big money to be In the best shape when you played. You disrespected fans , coaches , GM’s and owners . No one cares about what new product you’re pimping now for weight loss .
— JP Finn (@johnfin66137878) September 17, 2022
However, mentioning that he has reached this shape 20 years too late might be a stretch, as Shaq was always muscular, which was one of the reasons why he was so dominant back in the day. That wasn’t the only fan to react to Shaq’s video. One other fan wrote, “Should’ve worked harder after the three peat he got lazy and Kobe got mad.”
Should’ve worked harder after the three peat he got lazy and Kobe got mad
— just getting these tweets off (@HoopsxTroll) September 17, 2022
Shaq won three titles in a row with Kobe Bryant at the Lakers, from 2000 to 2002. However, the seasons following that was disappointing. The Lakers lost to the Detroit Pistons in the 2003-04 finals, and lost to the San Antonio Spurs the next season. To this day, many claim that O’Neal became lazy after the 3-peat, causing Kobe to be outraged. The opinion among fans is that this led to his departure from LA.
Should’ve worked harder after the three peat he got lazy and Kobe got mad
— just getting these tweets off (@HoopsxTroll) September 17, 2022
That wasn’t the only tweet where a fan questioned his work rate. The tweet mentioned, “Props but I wish he had this mentality when he was with Kobe.” It seems like many fans hate on Shaq for being lazy and not working hard enough when he played with the late NBA player. However, if we’re being honest, any player would look lazy when they are compared to Kobe Bryant, who was always the most hard working in the locker room.