NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal‘s fame as a basketball analyst is second only to his exuberant NBA career. At the heart of the 4x-NBA champion’s success as an analyst is his painstaking perusal of the sport. As an analyst, O’Neal shows great interest in college basketball and minor leagues, along side the NBA. Several times, the former MVP has spoken at great length about potential NBA prospects. Moreover, he has also advised many young players who long to make it to the biggest stage. Recently, the Lakers legend had a tough reality check for a popular basketball prodigy.

The NBA G league star Scoot Henderson is widely projected to be a top five pick in the 2023 NBA draft. The 19-year-old point guard is already being compared to some maestros in the NBA. Shaq, however, has recently pointed out that the NBA will not be a bed of roses to Henderson, citing an instance from Shaq’s own career.

Shaquille O’Neal provides a harsh reality check to a 19-year-old

Speaking of college basketball stars who are trying to make it to the NBA, Shaquille O’Neal has several times emphasized that the NBA is a whole different ball game. Despite being a college basketball sensation, and a seven footer, the Big Aristotle was far from being the best center in the league when the Orlando Magic recruited him. However, O’Neal was jealous of his contemporaries, and this jealousy motivated him to work his way up.

Throwing light on how jealousy has motivated him to become one of the best centers ever, Shaq hinted that Henderson might have to adapt to a similar strategy to thrive against legendary rival point guards in the league like, Russell Westbrook.

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“I saw how successful you all was. Caused me to get jealous and caused me to say you  know what, I am gonna use this for motivation. So when you look at all these guards in college, I ask the question, for example, Scoot Henderson. I like Scoot, but is he gonna do that against Russ? Is he gonna do that against Ben Carroll? Is he gonna do that Shai Gilgeous- Alexander? We shall see, but I wish him well,” Shaq said.

Alluding to the fact that it was his jealousy towards his contemporaries that prompted Shaq to work harder, he said, “That was a very big a very viable lesson for me. So I just want to, you know, make my name noticed, and you know put a mark. Because they said that I couldn’t do certain things. That didn’t do nothing but just motivated me.”

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Shaq then added how his jealousy motivated him to take on elite big men in the NBA like Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson. Turning jealousy into motivation might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Shaq badly wants up-and-coming basketball stars to make it big in the NBA. What do you think about Shaq’s rare advice to Scoot Henderson?

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