Shaquille O’Neal acknowledged on ‘The Big Podcast’ that Ben Simmons has been having a tough couple of years. He then applauded Simmons for putting up better performances in the past. While voicing this out, Shaq gave fans an insight into his mindset before a game and provided Simmons with a hard pill to swallow.

The podcast was released before Ben Simmon‘s Brooklyn Nets faced his old team, the Philadelphia 76ers. In this episode, Shaq made a bold prediction about how Simmons’ stat line would look against the 76ers. However, the 4x Championship winner predicted that Simmons would only manage to score 12 points in the game. Following this, he claimed that the Philly fans wouldn’t be kind to Simmons.

His co-host Nischelle Turner objected and stated that 12 points would make up for a good on-court performance. Shaq claimed that as per Simmons’ standards, 12 points would be delightful. He went on to explain why basketball is a simple game while speaking about his father and pre-game mindset.

Shaquille O’Neal makes a bizarre claim

Shaquille O’Neal explained that basketball is a simple game. According to him, a player only needs to run, shoot and dunk. He said, “If you have a good game, you accept it. If you have a bad game, don’t have two bad games in a row.” 

Turner instantly threw a question at Shaq, “Have you ever had two bad games in a row?” Shaq’s answer was predictable as he denied having two bad games in a row. When Turner and Spice Adams refused to believe this, Shaq said, “My father wouldn’t allow it.” 

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For Shaq, a bad on-court performance meant bagging points below 25. He always tried to maintain a high standard for himself. Further, stating that apart from helping the team, his mindset included the desire to give people a performance that was worth their money and time.

‘The Big Aristotle’ mentioned that the spectators in the stands pay enormous amounts of money to enter the arena. Eventually, this money helps a team with paying the salary of the players. Hence, Shaq aimed to give a good on-court performance.

Adams chimed in and stated that 24 points count for decent performance. However, O’Neal profusely denied this. He said, “I go to iHop and eat pancakes in misery if I got 24 points.” 

Shaq’s prediction was almost on-point

Shaquille O’Neal’s prediction about Ben Simmons’ performance would be a tough pill to swallow for the Nets guard. Instead of 12, Simmons registered a total of 11 points in the 32 minutes he spent on the court. As expected, the Philly fans were hostile to Simmons. They initially booed him on the court. But soon, explicit chants of “f**k y** Simmons” reverberated for short spells in the arena.

However, Simmons looked unfazed by all the hate. He conducted himself with a tinge of grace and kept his head held high. He even had some fun with the crowd by shrugging after making two free throws. After the game, he stated that he thought the crowd would be louder.

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The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Philadelphia 76ers (106-115). With that said, what do you think about Shaquille O’Neal’s claim? Let us know in the comments below.