NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal was very outspoken when the 2023-24 NBA MVP was announced Wednesday, expressing that he believes Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should have won the award instead of Nuggets' Nikola Jokic.
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This boiled over into NFL Hall of Famer, Shannon Sharpe giving his opinions on Shaq's opinion, during his Nightcap podcast show, with co-hosts Gilbert Arenas and Chad Johnson.
"Shaq should have 5 MVPs," Sharpe stated. "He sees a guy like Nikola Jokic that's not as dominant as him and gets three in four years. But see when you're historically great, they talk about you as the greatest basketball player, the 'GOAT,' and Shaq is never brought up, and I think a part of him is envious of that."
Shaq did not take well to the former football player's comments, posting a picture to Instagram of Sharpe, showing he was ranked No. 51 on the "NFL 100 Greatest Ranks." Underneath the post included a long caption.
Shaq goes at Shannon Sharpe in his latest Instagram post.
Oh my. pic.twitter.com/Ec3bH2ebY2
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 10, 2024
"If you ain't ranked in the top ten in your profession, then you can't speak on me... don't forget I know what you did to get where you are."
So it appears, the MVP conversation is a sensitive topic for Shaq, who won the award during the 1999-00 season with the Lakers, but was the runner-up two different times throughout his career. That is, during the 1995 season with the Magic, Shaq finished behind David Robinson, and then he also finished second behind Steve Nash during the 2005 MVP voting.
The one-time MVP adamantly stated on TNT's Inside the NBA, "I felt I was robbed two or three times," O'Neal said. "Don't name it 'most valuable player' then... It goes to the most valuable player in the league, and that was me, the most valuable player in the league [this season], that was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander."
To point out, Shaq even told this to Jokic's face after the MVP was announced, "I want you to hear it from me first, I thought SGA should have been the MVP."
Shaq tells Jokic to his face SGA deserved the MVP over him😭 pic.twitter.com/w1AOop9ziz
— RunYourPool (@RunYourPool_) May 9, 2024
In reference to Shaq's criticisms of the MVP voting, Sharpe was pointing out that maybe, there is underlying jealousy directed towards Jokic.
Shaq responded to this by saying, "Me jealous lol sounds like you jealous. I know you tryna stay relevant by gossiping on your podcast... 4 rings, three finals MVP."
Shaq then ended his long instagram rant saying, "The most dominant big man ever who never took it serious. Remember I don't know you, and in the words of Skip Bayless, 'I'm better than you,' and your GOAT debate, never wanted to be the GOAT, I wanted to be who you should greet me as, THE MOST DOMINANT EVER."
It didn't stop there as Shaq, also known as DJ Diesel, then proceeded to drop a diss track on Sharpe.
SHAQ DROPPED A DISS TRACK TO RESPOND TO SHANNON SHARPE. 🚨
(🎥: @bigpodwithshaq, h/t @playmaker)pic.twitter.com/1Sd3GQFcPN
— theScore (@theScore) May 10, 2024
And here is how Shannon Sharpe responded:
NO BACK TRACK🚶🏾♂️NO BEEF 🥩 JUST CONTEXT 📄 https://t.co/CAxXM6sJ0T
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) May 10, 2024
When looking at the comparisons between both athletes in their respective sports, both have proven themselves on the court/field.
Shaq played 19 seasons in the NBA (1992-2011), is a 15x All-Star, 4x NBA champion (3x Finals MVP), 1x MVP, with career averages that include 23.7 points (58.2% FG), 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.3 blocks. O'Neal is 8th all-time in points scored (28,596), and 8th all-time in blocks (2,732).
Shannon Sharpe played 14 seasons in the NFL (1990-2003), is a 8x Pro-Bowler, 3x Super Bowl champion. Notably, he was the first tight end to eclipse the 10k yard mark in NFL history, as he had 815 catches for 10,060 yards and 62 Touchdowns. Sharpe is 5th all-time in TE receptions, 5th all-time in yards, and 8th all-time in TDs.
