With so much hate currently being thrown towards the direction of Toronto Raptors brand ambassador Drake, one man who has decided to come to his defense is Hall of Famer and NBA on TNT analyst Shaquille O'Neal.

Well, not exactly. What Shaq is simply saying is that the rapper is no dummy, and that everything he has been doing on the sidelines is all part of a ploy that Drake is actually pulling off to perfection.

The cameras of TMZ Sports caught up with Shaq, and the 15-time All-Star was more than happy to discuss his thoughts on Drake and his sideline antics.

O'Neal does have a very valid point here. The mere fact that everybody's been talking non-stop about Drake simply means that from a marketing standpoint, what he's doing is actually working. Not only is he giving the Raptors more airtime, but more importantly for him, he has become the center of attention of late. As they say, bad publicity is still publicity, and when it comes to these things, Shaq definitely knows a thing or two about them.

As for the Raptors, Drake's antics also appear to be working in their favor. Not only is he drawing some of the attention away from the team's players — and by doing so allowing them to focus more on their basketball — but he has also successfully gotten on the nerve of several of their opponents.

His latest victim was Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green whom he exchanged words with following Toronto's Game 1 victory on Friday. So long as Drake serves as somewhat of a distraction to opponents, then he is playing his role extremely well.