Shaquille O’Neal is a Los Angeles Lakers legend and 4x NBA champion. In his prime, he was one of the most dominant forces the league ever saw. Shaq knows what it takes to win and lead a team to the promised land. In the modern NBA, there are several players who are considered superstars.
O’Neal has a problem with this and broke down his criteria and standards for being an NBA superstar. Perhaps we are guilty of using the term freely. It is important to take Shaq’s words at a higher value. He has seen hundreds of players through different eras in the NBA. Here is what the former NBA center had to say on modern-day “superstars“.
Shaquille O’Neal thinks only players like D-wade, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant are NBA superstars
Distinctions between terms in the NBA may seem irrelevant to many people. However, O’Neal has always tried to make his stance on this clear. He believes there are several stars in the NBA. Yet, only a few superstars. Shaq explained that the current-day players do not deserve the praise like some of the NBA greats in the past.
” I don’t seen Mike, I don’t seen Kobe. I don’t seen D-Wade, I don’t seen Penny Hardaway, I dont see LeBron, I dont see Kevin Johnson….“. Shaq went on to name several other players he considered to be NBA superstars.
” If you ain’t doing what they did or bout they did, don’t be looking for me to call you no superstar…. I dont seen it at all. I don’t play with made men. Embiid, made men. These little abject failures that you all talking about now. Get them out of my face. I dont think so.”
O’Neal has openly admitted he doesn’t consider some players in today’s league to be superstars. He claims that the ability to lead a team to the “promised land” is a prerequisite to earning the title. Additionally, he singled out Joel Embiid and took the chance to claim that Embiid isn’t a superstar.
We, as NBA fans should decide whether Joel is a star or a superstar. After all, he averaged 30.6 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists this season. These are some of the best numbers he has put up in his career. However, perhaps we should hold off on calling him a superstar till he carries the Philadelphia 76ers back into relevance.
