Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic has put together arguably his most impressive season to date so far in 2023-24. Following last year's epic disappointment, the Mavs currently sit with a respectable record of 24-17, and Doncic has continued to produce eye-popping statistics seemingly on a nightly basis.

Still, not everyone is so convinced that Doncic is the premiere young player around which to build a team. Recently, former NBA big man and controversial opinion spewer Shaquille O'Neal took to TNT's Inside the NBA and dropped a take that will have Mavs fans seething.

“I’m gonna have to take [SGA]. Luka is a fabulous player but this kid? He plays the right way, gets his teammates involved,” said O'Neal. “… “I'm taking him right now… He’s a hell of a player right now.”

If O'Neal's criteria is, as he claims, the level at which a player gets his teammates involved, then the Luka Doncic vs Shai Gilgeous-Alexander debate, if there is one to be had, clearly goes to the Mavs star. It's unclear what other variables O'Neal took into account when making his proclamation.

Doncic has led the Mavs to within three games of the Finals, while Gilgeous-Alexander has never made the playoffs as the number one option for his team. Last season's trip to the play-in round ended with the former Kentucky Wildcat struggling mightily against the Minnesota Timberwolves in what ended up as a Thunder blowout loss.

While O'Neal isn't exactly famous for his cogent analysis of current NBA affairs, this will still be a tough take for objective basketball fans to make sense of.