Shaq's ridiculous take gives Wolves fans even more reason to root for Rudy Gobert

Basketball legend and current analyst Shaquille O’Neal is often critical of modern players, including Rudy Gobert. 

Recently, Shaq said he hates the Minnesota Timberwolves center, citing Gobert’s contract as a reason. He further criticized Gobert’s playstyle and discussed a play where Christian Braun dunked on him and Rudy later grabbed his neck. Shaq went on to say that if Gobert makes it to the Hall of Fame, he would wear a dress to attend Gobert’s ceremony. These comments are just the latest negative onslaught on Gobert from Shaq. 

Shaq has a long history of criticizing Gobert

Seeing this level of bias and hatred from one of the NBA’s most prominent analysts and figures is downright despicable. However, unfortunately, this is common for the Big Diesel. Shaq has long been critical of modern centers and has a long history of attacking Gobert.

This started after Shaq made fun of Gobert when he was in tears after not being named to the All-Star team in 2019. Since then, Shaq has repeatedly made fun of Gobert’s contract and lack of offense. Regarding his contract, there are many players with far worse deals than Gobert's. At one point, Shaq went as far as to say Gobert is the worst player of all time. 

Criticizing certain aspects of a player's game is part of being an analyst. However, Shaq takes this to an unfair level, repeatedly criticizing players and rarely uplifting them. This style of coverage does well in the social media era, but it undoubtedly hurts NBA discourse. Regardless, Gobert has a clear Hall of Fame resume, so Shaq should be ready to sport a dress.  

Gobert is an overly hated great player

Gobert is arguably the most over-criticized player in the league. Watching a player get constantly dragged through the mud for no reason makes them easier to root for.

Yes, Gobert has offensive deficiencies that are fair to criticize. However, Gobert still makes a strong offensive impact as a screener while being an all-time great defender and rim protector. Notably, Gobert’s four Defensive Player of the Year awards are tied for the most of all-time. With four DPOYs and his impact on winning basketball, Gobert is a guaranteed Hall of Famer.

Since being traded to Minnesota in 2022, Gobert has transformed the Wolves’ defense and been a key part of their back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances. Gobert has an impressive career winning percentage of 58, a number that increases to 62.3 in the past decade. He is simply a winning basketball player. 

Even if you are not the biggest Gobert fan. It’s hard to justify the amount of criticism and random strays he receives. Of course, Wolves fans always have had a reason to root for Gobert. However, the general public should be getting tired of Rudy always being piled up on for no reason and thus have some rooting interest in Gobert.