Shaquille O'Neal has been a staunch defender of LeBron James' move from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason, squashing any criticism of NBA's all-time leading scorer being a ring-chaser.
"The man is not chasing rings. The man has already gotten rings the right way," O'Neal told FTW and USA TODAY Sports. "Towards the end of your career, if you could join up and help somebody else get a ring and continue to get rings, I call it ring continuancy."
But one thing the Lakers legend won't do is sugar-coat James' time with the purple and gold. One championship was good, but it wasn't good enough to put him at the big table with past Lakers champions. "The good thing for LeBron, he did win one," Shaq said. "But you know, Kareem got six, Magic got five, Kobe got five, I got four, Rambis got three. So you know, he's at the party, but he's not on stage."
Below is our full conversation with O'Neal, including details on General Mills' No. 1 Biggest Fan contest, his thoughts on what's next for Stephen Curry and more.
This Q&A is condensed and edited for clarity.
#o 'neal #james #thing
"The man is not chasing rings. The man has already gotten rings the right way," O'Neal told FTW and USA TODAY Sports. "Towards the end of your career, if you could join up and help somebody else get a ring and continue to get rings, I call it ring continuancy."
But one thing the Lakers legend won't do is sugar-coat James' time with the purple and gold. One championship was good, but it wasn't good enough to put him at the big table with past Lakers champions. "The good thing for LeBron, he did win one," Shaq said. "But you know, Kareem got six, Magic got five, Kobe got five, I got four, Rambis got three. So you know, he's at the party, but he's not on stage."
Below is our full conversation with O'Neal, including details on General Mills' No. 1 Biggest Fan contest, his thoughts on what's next for Stephen Curry and more.
This Q&A is condensed and edited for clarity.
#o 'neal #james #thing
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