Home

NBA

“I Don’t Mess with People’s Religion”: Shaquille O’Neal Lauds 20 Year Effort from NBA Legend to Teach Kyrie Irving a Lesson

Published 11/19/2022, 11:10 AM EST

Follow Us

via Getty

Shaquille O’Neal continues to stay firm on his stand on the whole Kyrie Irving controversy. The four-time NBA champ criticized Irving a few weeks ago and called the Brooklyn Nets guard an “idiot’ for sharing the link to a controversial movie on his social media account without realizing the consequences. Recently, Shaquille O’Neal praised a 20-year effort from NBA legend Amar’e Stoudemire in order to teach Irving an important lesson.

Irving has missed out close to eight games this season after being suspended by the Brooklyn Nets following his anti-semitic controversy. The Nets management has laid out some conditions that Irving would have to satisfy to return back to the team.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Meanwhile, Shaq was criticized for his ‘idiot’ comments against Irving. Several critics suggested that Shaq had premiered the movie in question in his own theatre. The Big Diesel took the opportunity to respond to his critics and to teach Irving a valuable lesson during the recent iteration of the Big Podcast with Shaq.

Shaquille O’Neal provides valuable advice to Kyrie Irving

During the podcast, Shaquille O’Neal revealed that he called Kyrie Irving an ‘idiot’ for jeopardizing his own reputation. Moreover, Shaq also admitted that he did play the movie in his theatre, claiming that all films had some kind of controversies. The four-time NBA champ gave the example of gangster movies. He suggested that he liked violent movies, but he would not go on social media and recommend them to small kids.

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest NBA stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

Shaq stated that he was glad Irving had found himself and was taking interest in Islam. The Lakers legend was proud of six-time All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire’s efforts in studying the Jewish religion for 20 years. In other words, Shaq implied that Kyrie should follow Stoudemire’s example on how to practice your faith without hurting the sentiments of other communities.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Additionally, Shaquille O’Neal said, “I don’t mess with people’s religion and what they do. You believe in what you believe and you stand on what you believe. That’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Further, O’Neal suggested that Kyrie Irving could have avoided the whole drama if he paid attention to the controversial statement made in the film.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

WATCH THIS STORY: Here’s how Ben Simmons, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, and other NBA stars spent their first paychecks 

Shaq reckoned that Irving should have been smarter and avoided putting himself in jeopardy. He gave Stoudemire’s example to teach Irving a lesson about his conduct in public. O’Neal also advised Irving to refrain from spreading controversial thinking on social media, no matter what he believed in.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Rohit Kumawat

752Articles

One take at a time

Rohit Kumawat is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. Currently pursuing an MBA in Media and Business Management, Rohit holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. He has been working as a Sports and Entertainment writer for over a year.
Show More>

Edited by:

Satagni Sikder