Similar to how oldheads in Hip-Hop can struggle with accepting and supporting newcomers, Shaq has made it clear that he isn’t too impressed with some of the new generation of NBA players and most specifically, Donovan Mitchell.
Last weekend, Shaq stunned the Utah Jazz guard in a post-game interview when asking him, “you are one of my favorite players, but you don’t have what it takes to get to that next level. I said it on purpose, I wanted you to hear it. What do you have to say about that?”
After Mitchell, who has already criticized his own play this season, endured Shaq’s question, basketball fans and players alike expressed their distaste with the Hall of Famer’s direction. Most notably, Lebron James and Kevin Durant -- who also recently ripped Charles Barkely -- both responded to the situation, ultimately deeming Shaq an oldhead and a hater.
According to Shaq, however, that’s simply not the case. In a post, he explained that he’s played with great players, including Penny Hardaway, Dwayne Wade, and the late Kobe Bryant, showing that he knows firsthand what a great basketball player looks like.
In addition to his own post, he also commented under one of NBA stat account @winshare’s pictures, stating, “I’m [too] great to hate.” He also shaded Durant, who’s infamously known for having a burner Twitter, by saying “ Ain’t nobody playing done what I’ve done besides Lebron and Steph Curry. So shut your fave up WINSHARES.”
From the looks of it, Shaq isn’t backing down anytime soon, so it will be interesting to see how situations like this continue to affect relations between the NBA’s retired legends and its current class of NBA stars.