Back in 2004, Shaquille O’Neal forced his own way out of Los Angeles chasing more championships, leaving amid a public fallout with the franchise’s other star. Two decades later, that legend’s comments about a different departing superstar, LeBron James, have gotten a response from fellow ex-players.

O’Neal gave his take on where LeBron James ranks among the Lakers’ all-time greats following James’ decision to leave the Lakers for the Philadelphia 76ers.

“The good thing for LeBron, he did win one,” O’Neal said. “But you know, Kareem got six, Magic got five, Kobe got five, I got four, Rambis got three. So you know, he’s at the party, but he’s not on stage.”

Shaq’s comments were then discussed between Shannon Sharpe and former Boston Celtics player Joe Johnson. Sharpe pushed back hard on the idea of using ring totals alone to rank James below role players from past Lakers title teams.

“If anybody think Kurt Rambis is a better player than LeBron James… even the most diehard Laker fan knows Kurt Rambis is not a better player than LeBron,” Sharpe said on the NightCap podcast. “I just can’t look at Kurt Rambis and Rick Fox and all these guys that got more rings than LeBron and say they’re better than him.”

Johnson agreed and gave his own explanation for why LeBron James left without hesitation.

“I think this is another reason why Bron, you know, he didn’t care about leaving because he already knew and understood that people’s gonna look at him like this. They knew they weren’t gonna give him no credit,” Johnson said. “So here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna go somewhere else who ain’t won it in however many years.”

Philadelphia’s championship drought goes back to 1983. Johnson’s response showed that the move was a calculated bet rather than a snub. “I’m gonna take that gamble, bring them to the promised land, then what you gonna say? There’s always gonna be some [criticism]. When you’re great, they gotta find a way to pick at you, bro. It’s just part of it.”

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Shaquille O’Neal said that James did enough in L.A. to be “in the building” as a Lakers great but not on the “top floor.” He placed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant above him and slotted himself into the next tier.

O’Neal has taken a very different tone when discussing James’ broader legacy outside the Lakers. He previously said on The Big Podcast that James’ career scoring and MVP totals actually put him above Shaq himself in an all-time conversation. “LeBron got more points than me… LeBron has more MVPs. That’s why I take myself out,” O’Neal said.