It's no secret that Hall of Fame big man Shaquille O'Neal isn't the biggest Rudy Gobert fan. Shaq has been relentless in calling out the Utah Jazz center for many years, which has caused a bit of a rift between the pair.
However, it appears that Shaq has offered somewhat of an olive branch to Gobert in a recent appearance on Stephen A. Smith's First Take program. Apparently, Shaq believes that Gobert is going to be an absolute force this coming season:
“Utah,” O'Neal responded when asked who he believes the biggest threat to the Los Angeles Lakers will be in the Western Conference.
“I won’t be so hard on Rudy this year. Rudy [is] coming with a vengeance,” Shaq continued (h/t Matt Giles of Fansided). “Rudy is coming this year.”
Shaq may be a huge critic of Rudy Gobert, but he is clearly a fan of the three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner as well. O'Neal has also called out Donovan Mitchell in the past, but it does seem that this is his unique way of motivating the young Jazz star.
Based on his comments above, Shaq is clearly high on the Utah Jazz this coming season. He's not sleeping on Gobert and Mitchell, so neither should we. Nevertheless, this also doesn't mean that O'Neal is going to stop throwing shade at the Jazz pair throughout the campaign.
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