Shaq's ridiculous Wembanyama criticism is actually a huge compliment

Shaquille O'Neal is one of the most fascinating people to ever enter the realm of basketball. He was an athletic freak when he was drafted by the Orlando Magic in 1992. Nobody had seen a man that size move the way he could and with the power that he did it with. A lot of people remember the Lakers version of Shaq or later when he was strictly a dominant post player, but he put the ball on the floor early in his career and had more moves than a man that big should possess.

Despite these clear advantages, he didn't work hard enough to stay in shape. It cost him his spot next to Kobe Bryant. He's been a basketball analyst with TNT for 13 years now, and he commands a lot of respect because of what he has accomplished in his career. However, people watch him for his humor, not his basketball analysis. Part of the reason for this is that he can't be taken seriously when discussing other great big men, i.e., his longstanding feud with Dwight Howard.

The fact that he was such a unicorn in his own right should make him more accepting of unique players when they enter the league, but that's not the case. He's more concerned with holding on to his title as "most dominant big man ever," and that's the only thing at play here. In the same interview, he mentions 'jealousy' as a motivating factor for him throughout his career. It's not hard to imagine that trigger being deeply ingrained in a player who acts this way.

Truly, it's a compliment, though. Shaq will usually throw around criticisms about a player not being dominant enough when he feels threatened. When Dwight Howard was in his prime, they gave him the nickname 'Superman'. Shaq didn't like that, since that was a moniker given to him in his playing days, and proceeded to ride Howard for every little thing he did for the rest of his career.

Dwight Howard is a 3-time Defensive Player of the Year winner. He took a team to the Finals as the only star on the roster, and he'll walk into the Hall of Fame easily. Harassing a player of his magnitude like he's an underperforming role player is asinine. He's also criticized Joel Embiid for shooting too many jumpers when Embiid averages nearly 30 points a game. Any player would sign up for those numbers. It's unreasonable to say that MVP winner Joel Embiid isn't dominant.

The game has changed. Steph Curry has proven that not only can you be dominant while shooting a high volume of jumpers, but you can win multiple championships doing so. The criticism isn't rooted in fact. It's based on jealousy and fear of being supplanted as the most dominant big man to ever play the game of basketball. A possibility that's never been more real than it is right now with Wembanyama.