Shaquille O’Neal just set the record straight.
On Sunday, the Twitter account Legion Sports posted O’Neal’s noteworthy stats in the NBA finals with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2000 to 2002. However, one fan wasn’t impressed, arguing that the all-star’s accomplishments wouldn’t have come to pass if he hadn’t been playing side by side with the late Kobe Bryant.
“Even with all of this Shaq doesn’t win those rings without Kobe,” the Twitter user fired off.
O’Neal has more than 15 million followers on Twitter, and the author of the critical tweet has, as of Monday evening, 64. Nevertheless, O’Neal found the time to jump on social media and clap back at his critic.
“No person can win without another star big dummy,” the legendary player wrote. “How many would magic have without kareem how many would kenny smith have without hakeem wtf u talking about i hate dumb ass people enjoy my stats and stf up.” (In order, he’s talking about Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kenny Smith and Hakeem Olajuwon.)
O’Neal, who now co-hosts “Inside the NBA,” is generally regarded as one of the greatest players of all time (as is Bryant). During O’Neal’s NBA career, he secured four championships, winning three with the Lakers and one with the Miami Heat.
The 7-foot-1 center spoke about the importance of teamwork during an episode of his podcast “The Big Podcast with Shaq” in January.
O’Neal, who with Bryant formed one of the most successful tandems in NBA history, said: “I have four championships ― can’t do it without Big Bob [Robert Horry], can’t do without Rick Fox, can’t do without the D Fish [Derek Fisher]. They have to be involved. It’s not ‘throw the ball at Shaq, and Shaq shoots it every time or throw the ball to Kobe.’”