Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal is one of the greatest centers and arguably the most dominant one to have played in the NBA. He was a menace on the court in his prime and was very hard to stop for any team. This is a fact that Shaq knows about himself as well and when Chris Russo questioned his legacy, Shaq couldn’t keep shut.
Shaq is a celebrity who is very active when it comes to speaking his mind and expressing his opinion on something. He recently responded to Chris Russo for ranking him as the fifth-best center and Russo might not like his response.
Shaquille O’Neal responded to Chris Russo assessment
On the Wednesday episode of the First Take, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo boldly claimed that Shaquille O’Neal was the fifth-best center in NBA history. Russo’s claim came after Shaq recently suggested the Warriors’ ace Stephen Curry should be included in the GOAT discussion.
As one would expect Russo’s comments did not sit right with Big Shaq and he had to respond to him. He did exactly that on the Friday episode of the Big Podcast with Shaq.
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The co-host of Shaq on the “Big Podcast with Shaq”, Adam Lefkoe showed him the clip featuring Russo and his statements. At first, Shaq did not even recognize Russo and said, “Who is that? Who the F*** is that?” asking Lefkoe to identify Russo.
Adam fulfilled his role as a good co-host and filled in Shaq with a basic description of the New York sports radio legend. After that, both men watched the full clip and as it ended Shaq gave his response to it.
He said, “Let us get it straight, I will smack the sh*t outta that dude, but let us get off that. I cannot be like that. I am corporate.” Shaq then elaborated on his response and disagreed with what Russo had said on First Take.
Shaq ranks himself at 3 in greatest ever NBA centers ranking
Later on, Shaquille O’Neal gave a proper reasoning on why he disagrees with Russo’s placement of him and why in his mind he thinks he is the third greatest center who has ever played in the NBA.
He said, “I don’t agree. However, Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar)? Yes. Wilt (Chamberlain)? Only because he has got more points than me. That is the only thing that upsets me in my career… I am the most dominant center and I do not want to hear another name again.”
Russo had NBA legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlin in the first and second positions of his rankings and Shaquille O’Neal agreed with them both. However, he explained why he did not agree with Hakeem Olajuwon and Mosses Malone who were the third and fourth placements before him on Russo’s rankings.
He said, “I passed Hakeem Olajuwon up, The king beat me once. I came back and beat him. Moses Malone? I passed him up four, five, or six years before I even retired. So, I would put myself no. 3.”
What do you think of Chris “Mad Dog” Russo’s ranking of Shaquille O’Neal? Do you agree with Shaq or Russo? We are eager to hear your thoughts, so drop down in the comments and let us know.
