Shaq tries (and fails) to justify his beef with Rudy Gobert

Shaquille O'Neal has made it his mission to find any excuse he can to criticize Utah Jazz alum Rudy Gobert. He's done it before, and he's really taken it up a notch during the 2024 Offseason.

So much so that after Gobert responded to O'Neal's comments about him earlier this month, O'Neal detailed why he criticizes the 4-time Defensive Player of the Year as much as he has on his personal podcast.

“When I made the comments about Rudy Gobert, people think it’s personal. Yeah, it is personal for guys like David Robinson, who only made $116 million. Fabulous f****** player... Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Most he ever made was $3 million… Patrick Ewing made $112 million. Bill Russell, $100,000. Just play hard. You making $250 million. Play hard. That's all I'm saying.”

So, in essence, Shaq says that because Gobert has made plenty more than some of the NBA's other legendary centers, his play warrants his criticism.

His claims also insinuate that Gobert isn't playing hard enough, even though, warts and all, Gobert's effort has never come into question.

This is an odd explanation for beefing with Gobert

From how O'Neal makes it sound, this all comes down to Gobert being on track to make more money than O'Neal did as an NBA player. So if Gobert made less than O'Neal or any of those other centers he mentioned, then he wouldn't be subject to what Shaq has said about him ad nauseam? This sounds more like a rationale than a motive.

More than that, financial envy seems to be the main cause of O'Neal's contempt for the former Jazz center, although one could theorize that there's more at play.

This seems like a "hate the game, not the player" situation. Gobert has his very well-documented limitations, but how is it his fault that the NBA's much higher salary cap compared to O'Neal's day has permitted him to make more than the players who came before him? It's no secret that the NBA's popularity has increased over the past decade both country-wide and worldwide, leading to players even lesser than Gobert making more money than Robinson, Ewing, and especially Abdul-Jabbar.

So, the NBA's salary cap, not Gobert, should drive O'Neal's contempt in this case. It's as simple as that.

Gobert is getting paid at the rate he is because he is one of the best centers currently in the NBA and of his era. That's why the Jazz paid him that much and why the Timberwolves paid such a hefty price for him, and it's getting them results.

Gobert has never been at the same level Shaq was, and some of the criticism directed at him is warranted, but basing the criticism for him on the checks he gets is downright stupid.