Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was among the first basketball legends to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to ultimate NBA glory. Years later, Shaquille O’Neal joined the Purple and Gold franchise and added three more rings to the Lakers’ dazzling legacy. Shaq has always had a lot of reverence for Kareem for leading the Showtime Lakers in the 80s to five NBA championships and popularizing the game of basketball altogether. However, Big Diesel recently revealed that he had to swallow a hard pill after a harsh encounter with the six-time NBA champion.

One would think that having played for the same team would be a good enough reason to strike up a conversation, but that was not the case for Shaq and Kareem. As it turns out, Kareem completely snubbed Shaq once, refusing to talk to him. Recalling the bitter truth, the Big Aristotle recently shared his takeaway from his non-existent relationship with the NBA’s former leading scorer.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s indifference motivated Shaquille O’Neal to strive to be the best

Recently, Shaquille O’Neal appeared on an episode of the I Am Athlete podcast, where he was prompted to talk about his ‘silent feud’ with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. One of the co-hosts asked the 4x NBA champion if he felt disrespected by Kareem’s indifference toward him.

In response, Shaq said, “I think it was more of a motivation. For me it was, it hurt, but that’s Kareem. I can’t trip off Kareem, I can’t.”

He continued, “You know my mother always told me this, my mother and father, they are genius. They said, ‘Before you get mad and star whooping people a** when they criticize you, you should see if there’s some truth inside of it.”

Shaq emphasized the importance of self-reflection, instead of getting offended at every little thing. He was hurt by Abdul-Jabbar’s actions, but used it as an incentive to introspect about his craft and better himself objectively.

The Big Aristotle also reflected the number of times he faced criticism due to his opinions on certain controversial matters. When the co-host asked him about the negative reactions that people of ‘this generation’ tend to give, he simply stated, “Because they don’t understand.” Shaq believes that before reacting to people’s opinions, one should look into the facts behind the remark. He explained, “They are giving you information. Before you get upset, just listen to that information.”

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Kareem never disliked Shaq

After years of feud speculations, the 6x NBA champion finally cleared the air during an episode of Inside the NBA. During the brief conversation with Shaq, Kareem praised the Big Aristotle for all the accomplishments he made during his basketball career. He said, “I’m on your side, Shaq, don’t let anybody tell you any differently.” In response, Shaq simply said, “Listen, you not speaking to me was the best thing that happened in my career; because all I wanted to do was impress you.” 

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The heartfelt exchange between Shaq and Kareem finally put an end to the decades-old beef rumors.