We all know the big brother role Shaquille O’Neal liked to assume for younger players, critical as he may be. None was spared– from Kobe Bryant who openly accepted the role and Dwyane Wade who admitted some positive influence, to even Victor Wembanyama more recently. However, the 4x NBA champ was amazed to find a superstar toward the end of his career who didn’t need his guidance– LeBron James.

On NBA on TNT, speaking about being hard on Donovon Mitchell, Shaquille O’Neal admitted that many mistake his tough love for dislike, but his only intention is to motivate. He would mess with players whom he wanted to see do better and admits to having been doing it for years. Shaq even called out Vince Carter, sitting on the other side of the panel, and recalled how he often used to call him.

“When you are my guy, I mess with you,” the Big Diesel says. “I used to call Vince all the time and be like, ‘what are you doing? Stop messing around.'” Carter agreed with the narration. But he wasn’t the only one Shaq admitted about. Penny Hardaway, Kobe, D-Wade, all made his list. But LeBron James stayed out.

“I didn’t have to do it for LeBron. LeBron was the first guy that had everything covered and I was amazed that I didn’t have to do anything. I know I was older but when I got to Cleveland, I didn’t have to do anything he had so much under control,” O’Neal appreciated the 20× NBA All-Star.

Is this the reason why O’Neal doesn’t miss a single opportunity to troll Rudy Gobert? The Timberwolves star is one of the most featured players in O’Neal’s Shaqtin’ a Fool segment on TNT and often is on the receiving end of some heat on social media. However, he hasn’t made light of the situation, calling out the Big Diesel about being triggered by his “finances and accomplishments.” In clapping back, Shaq would admit that was his way of putting out challenges. One that Jamal Murray seemed to have gotten a memo of.

Before the most recent game against the Dallas Mavericks, Shaq had asked ‘where Murray has been,’ calling him to step up and play the champions game. The Denver Nuggets star did not refute once he heard about it after the game. “He’s [Shaq] 100 percent right… I need to play my best… Need to play better,” he admitted post his 45-point performance. Looks like LeBron missed out on some of that push.

LeBron James’ brilliance impressed Shaquille O’Neal 

Speaking on an episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq of the Cavaliers, the former Lakers icon had only praises for Bron. He was more surprised to find how great leadership skills James had. He even went on to name him the best young leader he had ever seen. He was even more surprised to see how much control James had over the team. O’Neal shared that King James was even able to change the practice time and other things that he was never able to do.

“And I was kinda jealous of him because he got to do stuff I could never do. Like, coach would be like, ‘Hey man, we practicing at 10.’ LeBron would be like, ‘No, we practicing at 12,’ ‘All right, practice at 12.’ And I was like, God damn,” he recounted. “He get to bring his family members on the plane. So, I was like, I’ve been the man for a long time. I’ve never had this much power.” 

King James is a true superstar. That’s also because he has always worked not only on elevating himself but his teammates as well.