Paul George’s attempt to explain his 25-game suspension drew sharp criticism. NBA legend turned analyst Shaquille O’Neal was rather blunt with his opinion and reminded the Philadelphia 76ers stars about the anti-drug rule. But none was more pointed than from a 3x Super Bowl champion who faced his own drug charges in the 90s.

“When you put it up under mental health, what do you say to it, when somebody’s saying they’re doing it for mental health?” Irvin said on the It Is What It Is podcast. “That’s just such a broad scope of things. When you put it under mental health, you drew that cover that nobody can really say anything about.” Then the Miami legend and 3x Super Bowl legend joked that he should have used that line when he himself was arrested back in the ’90s.

“I should’ve tried that when I was in the hotel room. ‘I was dealing with something, mental health-wise, and that’s why I was doing them lines.’” He concluded but continued mocking, “I hope he gets the help he needs.” While the 59-year-old is now joking about his incident, it could have had serious implications back in the day.

On March 4, 1996, police found Irvin, his former Cowboys teammate Alfredo Roberts, and two women in a Texas hotel room. The legendary WR could have faced potentially 20 years in prison as he was arrested and eventually tried for cocaine possession. But he ultimately pleaded no contest to felony cocaine possession in exchange for four years of deferred probation, a $10,000 fine, and dismissal of misdemeanor marijuana possession charges.

The Cowboys didn’t let this controversy slide, and Irvin was also suspended for the first five games of the 1996 season. Since the Miami legend was arrested and the controversy became huge, Irvin joked that stating ‘mental health’ reasons would have de-escalated the issue right then and there. While the Pro Football Hall of Famer joked about his past, the NBA suspended Paul George for 25 games.

The ruling will strip the 9x NBA All-Star of roughly $12 million from his $51.7 million deal. With 35 games remaining, George will stay sidelined until the final 10 contests. PG did take accountability and stated, “improper medication” was to manage his mental health better. But not everyone is buying this explanation.

“He [Paul George] went from playoff P, to pandemic P, to podcaster P, to prescription drug P.”

This harsh and blunt statement came from 11-year pro Charlie Villanueva on his To the Baha podcast. The joke was about the nickname that PG had earned throughout his NBA career. ‘Playoff P’ when he rose up against the LeBron James-led Miami Heat early in his career. ‘Pandemic P’ was when PG played badly inside the Orlando bubble. Then, ‘Podcaster P’, due to his reduced production on court, was viewed by many as a distraction.

While the 76ers’ head coach and teammates have extended support, former legends Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley have a different opinion about the issue.

NBA Hall of Famers are also not buying Paul George’s story

During the Inside the NBA episode, Shaq was blunt and kept his logic very simple. “I just want to say that they give us a booklet on what to do and what not to do… They also give you, inside the booklet, how long it takes you to get rid of something. So, I don’t want to elaborate on what he was doing, but stuff like this should not happen.” Pretty straightforward from the Lakers legend, who, for his 19 years in the league, was often banged up. He had to use pills to reduce the pain.

But it never led to a suspension from the league. Even Charles Barkley has come out and questioned the circumstances of George’s “fishy” suspension.“There’s something fishy going on here. I don’t joke around about mental health, but if you’re taking something for mental health that’s got to be out of line for the NBA, like, that doesn’t make sense to me.”

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Barkley sternly condemned the use of performance-enhancing drugs, but suggested that medicine for mental health could be an outlier to the current anti-drug policy. Apart from “improper medication”, no other name has been released, which is why Barkley, Shaq, and Irvin remain skeptical.