Set the WayBack Machine for last year’s NBA season. Remember back to just about any time the Inside the NBA crew covered a game with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Remember the – what’s the best way to describe it? – “ongoing criticism” our man Shaq had for Wolves center Rudy Gobert. Well, the story continues.
Wait, what? Isn’t the NBA season long over? Of course it is…but the Summer Olympics are in full swing as of the time of this post, and that means men’s and women’s basketball, international style. Lots and lots of NBA regular season stars are playing with their home-country teams. With the NBA becoming more and more of an international game, drawing talent from all over the world, that’s making for a more interesting international game as well.
So for the Olympic Games, Gobert – normally playing at the Target Center, is now playing on France’s national team. The team also features San Antonio Spurs superstar (and Rookie of the Year) Victor Wembanyama, so France could have some success as the games continue.
The BIG Podcast with SHAQ
But like we said, O’Neal continues to absolutely, positively not be a Gobert believer. On his Big Podcast With Shaq this week (again, as of this posting date), the big man called out what he saw as a lackluster on-court effort in France’s recent win over Brazil.
On his Instagram account, Shaq posted a nicely photoshopped image of Gobert’s face on a random Walmart. The caption read “Rudy Gobert if he wasn’t 7’1.” Cold. Definitely cold. (And funny!)
On the court, Gobert’s game against Brazil had the following stats: Seven points, three rebounds, three for three from the floor. Meanwhile, countryman and Spurs Number One draft pick Wembanyama finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, and four steals on 53.8 percent shooting. Along with the numbers, he also had an ESPN Top-10 poster of a dunk against Brazil’s Maozinha Pereira.
The beef between O’Neal and Gobert is long-standing and fiery. When Gobert signed a five-year, $205 million dollar deal with the T-Wolves, O’Neal said he was definitely being “overpaid.” Shaq’s spat with Gobert goes back to his time in Utah.
O’Neal: “I never thought he was a great defensive player, either. See, what it is, is there’s not a lot of centers that are making him play defense. Like, he’s not doing that s— against [Nikola Jokić], because he has to be engaged. But when he’s going against another guy, he’s 7′ 6″, of course if you lay it up he’s going to block it.”
Still, Gobert has been a contributor for the teams he’s played with. The Wolves enjoyed a pretty deep playoff run this year, and Gobert himself has been named a Defensive Player of the Year four times.
It’s going to be interesting and fun, watching all our favorite NBA players compete for their home countries. Team USA is loaded with talent, of course, and has got to be the favorite for the gold. Stay tuned and let’s see how it goes…