Shaq Slams LeBron’s Rant About Rushed NBA Schedule: ’40 Million People Have Been Laid Off’ You Can’t Make $200 Million and Complain
Last month, LeBron James lashed out at the NBA for rushing its 2020-21 regular season schedule, claiming it’s causing a rash of injuries throughout the league. But former NBA MVP and current analyst for TNT, Shaquille O’Neal has no sympathy for his basketball brethren.
“When you’re living in a world where 40 million people have been laid off and I’m making $200 million, you won’t get no complaining from me,” Shaq said in an interview with CNBC. “I’d play back to back to back to back to back.”
Shaq was responding to LeBron’s tweet stating, “They all didn’t wanna listen to me about the start of the season.” Even before battling injuries himself, King James was against starting the 2020-21 NBA season so quickly after the previous league year concluded.
“I’m not knocking what anybody said,” Shaq continued to CNBC. “But me personally, I don’t complain and make excuses, because real people are working their tail off and all we gotta do is train two hours a day and then play a game for two hours at night and make a lot of money…so my thought process is a little different.”
O’Neal never dealt with the quick turnaround current NBA players experienced last offseason. And the former center was rarely healthy enough to play a full regular season, having never played 80 games in his nearly two-decade long career after turning 22-years-old.
Normally, the NBA season ends in mid-June and tips off the following October, giving players four months to rest. But because of the Covid-19 pandemic, NBA players were given just a two-month break before having to jumpstart the 2020-21 season.
The list of superstars who are, or have dealt with injuries during the NBA Playoffs is startling. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid, Trae Young, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Chris Paul top the seemingly ever-growing pool of players who were banged up in the playoffs.
Watch above via CNBC
