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NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 06: Shaquille O’Neal appears to promote “Toys for Tots” during the AOL BUILD Series at AOL HQ on December 6, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Donna Ward/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 06: Shaquille O’Neal appears to promote “Toys for Tots” during the AOL BUILD Series at AOL HQ on December 6, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Donna Ward/Getty Images)
Getty
NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 06: Shaquille O’Neal appears to promote “Toys for Tots” during the AOL BUILD Series at AOL HQ on December 6, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Donna Ward/Getty Images)
Getty
NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 06: Shaquille O’Neal appears to promote “Toys for Tots” during the AOL BUILD Series at AOL HQ on December 6, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Donna Ward/Getty Images)
Shaquille O’Neal, the Los Angeles Lakers legend has been living his life post-retirement. From getting involved in various businesses to being a pundit on television, he is trying to be involved in various sectors around the sport as well as beyond it. The 15-time All-Star has his own podcast with Nischelle Turner and former NFL star, Anthony “Spice” Adams. The Lakers legend discussed an incident that happened on-court when the Boston Celtics faced the Philadelphia 76ers, in the most recent edition of his podcast.
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These kinds of plays are dangerous and Marcus Smart should be able to defend himself, according to the Lakers legend.
Shaquille O’Neal defends Marcus Smart
Shaquille O’Neal was known to be a tough physical player back in his playing days. O’Neal faced difficult physical challenges and went beyond them.
In the recent ‘Big Podcast’ episode, O’Neal shared his thoughts on Marcus Smart and Joel Embiid clashing in the Celtics-76ers game. Marcus Smart had a short tussle with Joel Embiid after the Philadelphia 76ers center had an awkward hand lock with Smart.
READ MORE: Shaq once motivated himself to lose weight by thinking about possible “Death”
The Lakers legend started off by explaining how Marcus Smart is entitled to defend himself, before he saw the clip, O’Neal said, “Well, one, you gotta protect yourself, It’s okay to be chippy. Listen Marcus Smart is a tough guy.” The Lakers legend added after he saw the clip “ooh, yeah, ooh, yeah, I’d have been mad too ‘cause that’s an old school move right there. Guy have his elbow locked and you swing it through? You could definitely snap it. So Marcus Smart had a right to be upset.”
Smart and Embiid getting chippy 👀🍿 pic.twitter.com/xkTEFj2NgU
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 19, 2022
The four-time NBA Champion’s thoughts about Smart’s action were solidified after he saw the clip. And when a tough player like Shaquille O’Neal thinks some plays is dangerous, there is a high likelihood it is.
Marcus Smart on Embiid incident: “It's maturity. I could’ve cracked his head open but I didn’t. That’s the maturity we had.” pic.twitter.com/68NjPczafy
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 19, 2022
Marcus Smart came out after the game and also said what he felt about the challenge. He said that the team didn’t push the matter further because they were mature about it.
Celtics in the 2022-23 season
Apart from the violent tussle between the two players, the Boston Celtics started the 2022-23 season pretty nicely. The Celtics have won all the three games they have played until now.
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The Celtics would like to brush off their defeat in the Finals of the 2021-22 season.