Shaq's latest Rudy Gobert comment is as embarrassing as they come

Minnesota Timberwolves fans have been following along with the ever-cringey saga between Rudy Gobert and NBA Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O'Neal. As many NBA fans are aware, Shaq has a history of being bothered by successful big men in the league, and that trend has not slowed down.

Over the years, O'Neal has publicly expressed discontent for many NBA bigs, most notably Dwight Howard. But much of his criticism has been unfounded, and he routinely comes off as someone just hating for no reason or looking to start something.

It has been much of the same with this recent Gobert beef. It all began several weeks ago when Shaq was prompted on a podcast to give his answer for the worst NBA player of all time (a silly question with questionable motives to begin with). When he answered by naming Rudy Gobert, things started to get ugly.

First of all, Rudy is obviously no where close to the worst player to don an NBA uniform, already removing Shaq's credibility. From there, Gobert made the rare decision to fire back at Shaq, shaming him for being unnecessarily dramatic. "I get the entertainment part but unlike other folks, you don’t need that stuff to stay relevant," Rudy wrote in a post on X.

Shaq misunderstood Rudy Gobert's response to him

Now, on another recent podcast, this time an episode of The OGs Show, Shaq responded to Gobert's reaction to him. In doing so, he misunderstood Rudy's words and came away looking no better than when he started.

"A lot of these big men now, when I put up these challenges, they fail the test because they respond," said Shaq. "They're sensitive ... You know, when I speak, I try to speak from facts. It may come out wrong, and you may think I'm hating. And his comments, 'you're trying to stay relevant,' m-----f-----, I got 15 commercials. The f--- you talking about?"

First off, Shaq clearly misunderstood Rudy's message. Gobert clearly states in his social media post that he knows O'Neal does *not* have to make crazy statements to remain a relevant figure in the NBA sphere. The fact that Shaq could not understand Rudy's very logical statement just adds to the embarrassment here.

Secondly, it is truly ironic that Shaq would have the gall to accuse others of being sensitive in this situation when he is the one that threw the first shot. O'Neal could easily spend his time building the younger generation of big men up and encouraging them, but he chooses to go the route of controversial statements and public criticism.

To be fair, I have to acknowledge that I am not in Shaq's shoes and do not know why he chooses to act in this manner. Perhaps he was treated in a similar fashion by his basketball predecessors, and now feels this is the role he must play. But from an outsider's perspective, this whole situation seems to be hugely embarrassing for the four-time NBA champion.