‘I Will Smack the Sh*t Outta That Dude’: Shaquille O’Neal Fires Back at ‘Mad Dog’ Russo Calling Him the Fifth-Best Center in NBA History

Shaquille O’Neal had harsh words for Chris “Mad Dog” Russo after the commentator listed him as just the fifth-best center in NBA history.

Russo made the bold claim on Wednesday’s episode of First Take. He did so in response to O’Neal suggesting that Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry may deserve to be considered the greatest player in the sport’s history.

Nah I need what Mad Dog smoking 🤣 pic.twitter.com/tucqFxgzGv

— Overtime (@overtime) December 20, 2023

On Friday’s episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, co-host Adam Lefkoe played the clip for the NBA legend. At first, O’Neal didn’t even know who it was.

“Who’s that?” O’Neal said, prompting Lefkoe to identify Russo. “Who the fuck is that?”

After explaining that Russo is considered a legend in New York sports radio — with which O’Neal disagreed — Lefkoe played the rest of the video and asked for O’Neal’s response.

“Let’s just get it straight: I will smack the shit outta that dude,” O’Neal said. “But let’s get off that. I can’t be on that. I’m corporate.

“I disagree. However, Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar)? Yes. Wilt (Chamberlain)? Only because he has more points than me. That’s the only thing that upsets me about my career… I’m the most dominant center. I don’t ever wanna hear another name again.”

Russo also had centers Hakeem Olajuwon and Moses Malone ahead of him. O’Neal explained why, in his mind, he surpassed both.

“I passed Hakeem Olajuwon up,” he continued. “The king beat me. I came back and beat him. Moses Malone, I passed him up four, five, six years before I retired. So, me, I would put myself no. 3.”