Richard Jefferson drew the ire of the basketball world, and now Shaquille O’Neal recently. During the playoff series between the Miami Heat and the Milwaukee Bucks, Jefferson sent out a Tweet comparing Scottie Pippen to Giannis Antetokounmpo. He tweeted “Giannis might be a Pippen… there I said it! He needs his Jordan.”
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I’m not Giannis—I don’t have back-to-back league MVPs (he will in a matter of days)—and he’s not me. The question is… who were you as a player? 😂 https://t.co/Ce6tGU98s3
— Scottie Pippen (@ScottiePippen) September 3, 2020
Many, including Scottie Pippen himself, responded to Jefferson’s comments. Pippen responded by dismissing the comparison and questioning what Jefferson did in his career to make such comments.
Jefferson clarified his comments on ESPN’s Get Up. He said that while Giannis and Pippen were fantastic players, they were never entrusted with closing out a game as Jordan did for the Chicago Bulls. The explanation was not well received either.
Shaquille O’Neal slams Jefferson
Recently, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal went on rapper Fat Joe’s podcast. Shaq discussed Jefferson’s comments, suggesting he had no right to talk about Pippen or Antetokounmpo given his own playing career.
He said, “The problem with social media in my opinion is that it gives people a chance to say what they want to say. Now, on a real, Richard Jefferson and that other guy don’t have G-14 classification to be talking about Pippen, LeBron, or anybody. We come from an era where you got to stay in your lane. If you ain’t no OG, don’t be coming and hollering at me like you an OG. But Social media, people say what they want to say.”
O’Neal then spoke about the comparison made and said that the two are different players. “Richard Jefferson was totally wrong, Scottie Pippen is a great player, and Giannis and Pippen are two different players. Giannis is a guy who has the ball at all time, Pippen was a role player and a great role player.
“He was so great that Michael in the documentary said I wouldn’t have six without Pippen. Everybody needs somebody. I’ll be the first to tell you I ain’t got four without Kobe and D-Wade. If I could’ve done it by myself, I would’ve done it by myself before I met Penny, Kobe, and D-Wade.”
Shaq has shared his admiration for Antetokounmpo in the past. He said that ‘The Greek Freak’ could finally be the one to take over his own ‘Superman’ monicker.
