Draymond Sparks HEATED Debate With Shaq, Talks Playing With LeBron & Calls Out His Haters | Ep 22

Shaq's Lakers against your Golden State Warriors. Who wins? And the bonus question, who the fuck guarding me? Please don't say Andrew Bogut.

There were defensive schemes that we could have thrown at you to affect you. One is not letting you get the ball.

How you gonna do that?

So we gonna guard you with a guy in front of you, a guy behind you.

They did that.

Yeah, I wasn't on the court though.

All right, so what you gonna do, stand behind me?

I'm standing in the front. Ain't no ball getting to you.

What you mean the ball don't get to me?

I got 7'3" wingspan.

And I got 9'4" wingspan. You can't get the ball through me. —was gonna go over you, Draymond.

Andrew Bogut's behind.

Stop. I'm in the front. Stop it.

We leaving somebody over there to shoot 'cause you [MASKED] couldn't shoot.

Bogut gonna be in foul trouble. Now who your backup center?

Me.

Draymond, stop.

Me.

Draymond.

Eh, then, hey, then we gotta fight.

All right, we just gotta fight then.

And guess what? You getting thrown out the game and me getting thrown out the game, who's that gonna hurt worse? Your team. Then y'all lose.

So I guess we not gonna fight then. This is Shaq with the Big Podcast. Adam's not here today, so I'm taking over the duties. I don't have one of those big elaborate intros 'cause I don't have that voice, but we're here with one of my favorite people in the game today, Draymond Green. Draymond, how you doing, brother?

I'm great, brother. I appreciate you having me.

You flew private?

Hell no. Delta. You flew private. I didn't even fly private before. It was just me.

You fly private. Oh, you don't fly by yourself? Private?

No.

Yeah, me either.

I hate it. I did it before. I felt like the biggest dummy.

You were scared?

Nah, I'm just sitting there like, I got nobody to talk to. I'm sitting here by myself. What the fuck is this?

No, you know what? No, you know why I don't fly by myself? Why is that? 'Cause if something happened, I wanted to be Shaq and his producer Shane went down. Yeah, I wanted that shit. Just to be by myself. Shaq and his boy went down. I flew by myself one time, that shit turbulence, and I was like, oh, this ain't it, is it? The shit plane went— I was like, man, fuck that. Never again. All right, let's get to it. The MVP voting came out the other day. Two-part question. First question, what is your definition of the MVP? And what did you think of the voting this year?

Number one, I think my definition of what the MVP is, is, you know, everybody always says the best player on the best team. I disagree with that because you can be the best player on the best team and y'all run an incredible system. And in the NBA, as you know, you can win a lot of regular season games by having consistency, continuity, a group of guys that know how— I call 'em 82-game teams and 16-game teams. And you can have a bunch of 82-game guys that's coming out hard every single night. And with the continuity, you win a bunch of regular season games. And then if you're the best player on that team, are you the best player in the NBA? Are you the most valuable player in the NBA? I think that's bullshit. And so the MVP award to me is a guy who, number one, you're unstoppable. Every single night. You can create a shot for yourself. You can get shots for other people. And that don't necessarily mean I'm a guard, I'm getting in the lane and I'm dishing. You created offense for a lot of guys just by your presence, your dominance, and people having to triple team, double team, triple team, sometimes sending 4 guys at you that create shots. That's very valuable, right? And oftentimes today it's like, oh, it's the best player on the best team. That's garbage. I think it's the guy who— Draymond Green. Night in and night out, we getting great looks. We winning games. Yeah, you gotta win games. We don't want somebody in the 10th seed win or 11th seed winning MVP. You do gotta win games, but you gotta be the best player every single night and also making other guys better, not just yourself.

You're a defensive guy. Rudy Gobert won his 4th Defensive Player of the Year, but it seems to me he has problems guarding people. So how does that make him a Defensive Player of the Year? 'Cause lemme tell you something, Joker, where's he from, Joker?

Serbian.

That was Serbian chicken. Serbian, Serbian chicken sautéed under some rice. He was killing that shit. So I'm like, you know, my thing is, like you said, the MVP unstoppable. My thing with Defensive Player of the Year was guy, you, you, you can't score on him. So why does it seem like he has problems, especially in the postseason?

Well, the Defensive Player of the Year has historically been an award of someone who gets blocks, someone who gets steals. Like, you look at these couple things and you're like, oh, this guy blocks 3 shots a game. He's the Defensive Player of the Year because of the shots he's blocking. I actually don't agree with that. Now, what I will say is this. I think Rudy Gobert has gotten a lot better defensively now than what he was years ago. This year was actually the first time that I thought he actually deserved to win Defensive Player of the Year. He was checking, he was getting out, people was bringing him a pick and roll. He was switching, he was moving his feet. It was almost like if you watched him during the year, he took all of the noise that everybody said about him as a defender and took it personal because all the things that he never did, he was then all of a sudden doing. And for me, our game plan was always to pick on him, like put him in action, whether it's put him in the ball screen, whether that's put him in a pin down and he's guarding Klay off a pin down, guarding Steph off a pin down, put him in every action. For myself, I go on the court and I'm running into a pick and roll to guard pick and roll and they like, no, get him outta here, bring this guy in. You know? And for me, I'm like, all right, that's the guy I wanna be. Like, I want them to not want me in the action. 'Cause if you bring me in every action, I'm gonna have a fucking field day. That's how I look at it. And I always thought, you know, when I looked at our game plan, when I looked at other people game plan, that they were picking on him. And I know for a fact we were picking on him. And I never understood how our defensive game plan could be go at that guy, but that guy's the Defensive Player of the Year. And you know, this year was the first year that that wasn't the game plan because all his numbers were through the roof when you put him in actions. And so this one I actually think he deserved. The other ones, I think it was a matter of him blocking weak side blocks. 'Cause it wasn't like somebody was posting him up and then he's blocking a shot. It's like, no, you drive, he come weak side, he block it. I think he earned this one this year. But all the other years I was a little skeptical.

Dikembe Mutombo, 4-time Defensive Player of the Year, Hall of Famer. Ben Wallace, 4-time Defensive Player of the Year, Hall of Famer. Does this make Rudy Gobert a Hall of Famer?

It will because a couple things. It will because when you look at the Hall of Fame, it is the Basketball Hall of Fame. It's not the NBA Hall of Fame. And I think we oftentimes see guys, some guys from Europe, get into the Hall of Fame that we wouldn't necessarily respect that guy being into the Hall of Fame on our terms. But it's not necessarily our Hall of Fame. It's the Basketball Hall of Fame. So I think he will get in. But is he a Hall of Famer in what we would consider a Hall of Famer?

Isaiah Thomas told me the best. He said there's two Hall of Fames. There's a bad motherfucker Hall of Fame and then there's a Hall of Fame like you said it. As Carnival CFO, that's short for Chief Fund Officer. It's my job to ensure everyone has an unforgettable vacation experience on their Carnival cruise. All you gotta do is enjoy all types of fun on ship, from twists and turns on Bolt, the world's first roller coaster at sea, to moments of blissful relaxation at Cloud 9 Spa. Ah. Venture off ship and explore ancient Mayan ruins, or just kick back and do nothing at all on the pristine white sand Caribbean beaches. Take an ATV ride through the jungle, or dive into the crystal clear waters of Carnival's new exclusive exclusive destination, Celebration Cay, welcoming guests in the summer of 2025. Finally, kick off the evening with a craft cocktail at any one of Carnival's dazzling bars and lounges. And take your pick among the delectable restaurants onboard, like Emeril's Bistro or Shaq's Big Chicken. Then settle in for an evening of live entertainment at Punchliner Comedy Club or take in a show. Simple as that. You've just created unforgettable vacation memories. Because no one does fun like Carnival. Visit Carnival.com and pack for your next cruise. Ship's registry: The Bahamas, Panama. Think it was game 2. Jamal Murray gets upset, throws a towel on the court. Then he gets upset, he throws a heating bag on the court. The rulings? We fine you $100,000. It's okay. What if that was Draymond Green? What would happen?

I would've got suspended for the rest of the playoffs. For sure. I got suspended. I tried to hit Bron, got suspended from Game 5 of the Finals. I missed.

You tried to hit him?

Damn right I tried to hit him. You step over him, I'm a grown man. You don't step over my shoulder. It's a lot of space on the basketball court. If I'm not mistaken, it's 94 by 50. I don't take up that much space. You don't need to go over my shoulder. You go over my shoulder, you're disrespecting me as a man. I don't give a damn about basketball over who I am as a man. And so I miss, everybody always say, man, Draymond got suspended. He need to stop getting technical fouls. He got suspended because he, he continues to get technical fouls. And you know, he didn't, he never learned his lessons in the playoffs or in the finals when that's actually not a fact because I actually got suspended for flagrant accumulation of flagrant foul points. Now I get suspended for accumulation of flagrant foul points. I picked up a flagrant foul on a foul that I did not commit. You ain't never seen nobody like, "Oh, he moved his arm and he missed the guy, but that is a flagrant foul." A foul is, you gotta make contact for a foul. I got suspended for trying to make contact. And you throw a heating pack on the court and that's okay? So tell me this. If somebody step on that heating pack and get hurt, then is it a bigger deal or is it not? Don't tell me, oh, we don't wanna affect the outcome of the game because the outcome of an NBA Finals was affected. So don't tell me that, oh, we want the players to decide, determine what's happening on the court and the outcome. 'Cause that's, unless that rule change, you know? And I think sometimes when the thing, the problem that I have oftentimes with the suspensions and different things is like, You don't know what it is. It, it sometimes it's here, sometimes it's there, sometimes it's in between. It just kind of moves. Like there is no set. You do this, you get this, you do that, you get this. It's all over the place. And so when I saw that and then people like, oh, they did the right thing because they didn't wanna affect the outcome. I am an NBA Finals MVP short because an outcome was affected.

Yeah.

So I don't really hear all that. I don't buy it. I think it's, I, and you know me, I'm never one to wanna see players get suspended. I'm never one to wanna see players get fined. I actually think it's ridiculous when you look at us as basketball players, the amount of money we get fined for the things that we do. That shit don't happen in corporate America. It never happens in corporate America. You get fined $50,000 because you say something somebody don't like. 50 grand? That's real money. 100 grand? I was like, oh, he only got fined 100 grand, man. What? $100,000?

You know, my thing about the fines is nobody knows where that money goes.

They say it go to charity, it go to this.

Yeah. Like I never seen it.

Man, listen, I'm gonna tell you something that happened to me before. I'll never forget it. So obviously we're fined. We have a Players Association. I love a lot of people at the Players Association, but this never rubbed me the right, this rubbed me the wrong way that day. And ever since then, I took a step back from the Players Association. We're in a meeting, you know, where they come out, they come see the teams, the executive chairperson and their team. And we're in Boston. And so they, it's closer to New York. They come meet with our team in Boston. And the lady that's over the PA Foundation says, "Woo, Draymond, I love you because you always sending us money." Mm-hmm. Whoa. You're supposed to be fighting for my money back. You sitting here telling me you love me because I get fined and I always send y'all money. I'm supposed to be confident in you fighting for my money back? I've been down ever since. Like, and so, you know, you look at, oh, like any other charitable donation, you know, you know, oh, it went here, it went there. We never know where this money is.

Never.

I don't understand it. So back, like I'm never in favor of guys getting suspended. The fines to me don't make sense. You know, when you talk about as hard as we work to accumulate wealth coming from situations that most people never make it out and then you get fined the way we get fined, it's actually not set up for us to be wealthy after we're done playing. This job is not set up the way we're taxed.

Oh, California?

Like the way we're taxed, the way we're fined, the things that's put, this job ain't never been set up for us to be wealthy after we're done playing. And you know, you hear about all these programs like this program, this, this program, that shit is to cover everybody. This program is to teach this guy this. But if I do something wrong, I lose $100,000. Man, it took my mom 3 years when I, 4 years when I was growing up to make $100,000. And I lose that in the night because what? Like the fines are, the referee got mad at me. And so, and he didn't like what I said to him. So I lose $5,000 like that, like on a tech, you know? And so I think I don't understand the marker. And back to your Jamal Murray question, I think it was absolutely insane that you get $100,000 fine, no suspension, no nothing.— for throwing a heating pack at an official?

Yeah.

Man, I throw a word at an official, they throw me under the jail. You throw a heating pack at an official and you get a fine? That's crazy, man.

So we do a segment called The Big Break with the General, and we wanna know which team deserves a break to make the Finals. Minnesota, OKC, the Knicks, or the Pacers?

Which one deserves a break to make the Finals? The Knicks deserve a break. It's been a long time. Like Minnesota, you never expect a team in Minnesota to win the NBA Finals. Like let's just face it. Like if the Minnesota Timberwolves never win an NBA Finals, nobody's batting an eye like, ah, why they ain't never winning? Like it's Minnesota. Now they got Ant-Man, so it changes things, right? You never. Indiana, you're not batting an eye if the Indiana Pacers never win a championship. Don't matter. OKC, you're not batting an eye if they never win a championship. It don't matter. The New York Knicks win a playoff series and they fans go crazy.

Crazy. They're the best team ever created.

They shut the streets of New York City down. For winning a playoff series, a game in the playoffs, like shuts the streets down. I think that that's who deserved a break.

So we as players, we hear this term a lot. This next game is super important. So outta all the games, talk about the importance of the game and who needs to win.

Minnesota has to win next game. Minnesota, you start off up 0-2 or up 2-0, on the road versus the champion. And you start off that way and you think, again, it's a team that ain't never won nothing. And you think you going back home like, ah, this is over. Like we got this in the bag. And then that championship team show you why they are champions. Because in the face of adversity, we stand tall. It's champions. There's nothing you, In order, by the time you win a championship in the NBA, there's nothing you haven't seen. In order to do that, there's nothing you haven't seen. And so they come and they stand tall. Now Minnesota's on the ropes. You going back game 5, you lose 3 in a row. Starting off playoff 6-0. It's this, in this series 2-0. And then you lose 3 in a row. They already, and I spoke about this on my podcast, they already have some guys that ain't really been shit as far as winning goes in the league. Ant-Man has taken those guys and put 'em on his back. But those guys' confidence will shake easily. So all of a sudden you go down 3-2 when you up 2-0, you could feel good. Bravo. Ah, it's me. When you go down, those same guys will start like, ah, it ain't me. Like, you know, and that confidence is shaking. Minnesota has to win this game. They don't win this game, they probably won't win another game.

Indiana Knicks.

Indiana Knicks. Indiana gotta win. Indiana loses, over. And here's why I say that. They already lost a game, maybe two at the Garden that they should have won. You don't get many opportunities in a playoff series to lose games that you should have won and still win the series. And they already tricked, for sure, one that they should have won. You gotta make that game up. It's hard to make them games up in the playoff series when you let one get away, especially for a team that ain't done it before. So they have to win. Yeah. Now because they already let one get away. Game 7, they not going in the Garden and winning.

Dallas, OKC.

I got Dallas. I know Dallas with Luka and Kyrie can go on the road and win, no problem. Luka without Kyrie had to go on the road against Phoenix and win and went on the road and won by 30. So we know they're capable of doing that. I got Dallas, no problem. Boston and Cleveland. Boston easy. That's not even a—

This episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq is brought to you by The General. You know Shaq loves The General. Before the league, before the rings, before I got my big break, I've been rocking with The General. The General has been offering quality coverage for 60 years. You already know The General was there for Shaq when I needed 'em. Low rates and flexible payment options to keep you covered. If you're ready for your big break, you know what to do. Visit thegeneral.com to get a quote today. Again, visit thegeneral.com to get a quote today. And it wouldn't be the Big Podcast without the General. When you got your, what I think was 15-game suspension?

Yeah, it was indefinite. It ended up being like 6 or whatever.

Yeah, when you got your 15, 16 games and you heard people saying like, I hope he gets help, how'd that make you feel? I mean, 'cause I know as an NBA player, we're two different people. Like I've been knowing you for a while. You a wild man on the court. Never seen you wild off the court. So when people were saying he needs help, how'd that really make you feel?

I thought a lot of people who were saying that, number one, it's easy to sit over here and shoot over there. Most people ain't gonna come stand in your face and shoot at you like that. They gonna shoot from over here and act like they big. And so I thought it was very interesting. So many guys coming out like, oh, he need help. He need this, he need that. Number one, you don't know me. So to sit and throw that on somebody name, it's crazy. It really, it took me through a range of emotions though. Like it pissed me off. It made me sad. It made me just sit and think. It took me to dark places. Like, because I'm sitting there like, he need help. Yeah. Like, I need help for the way I play basketball? Like, I am a standup citizen. I try to be as good to people as I can be. Like, one of the things I've always loved and respected about you outside, by the way, I'm gonna just say this now. My ch— the child, my, the child in me, this is everything for me. Growing up as a Shaquille O'Neal fan, the first jersey I had was the Magic pinstripe jersey with an Orlando Magic nightlight, Orlando Magic zip-up onesie. I remember—

A onesie, pajamas?

Yeah, little kid, zip-up onesie, baby.

Hold on, NBA, you owe me some money. I ain't never heard about no Shaq pajamas.

Zip-up onesie. Like this is everything for me. So number one, I wanna say thank you. But in like seeing all of these people say, yo, he need help. Like, I'm a standup dude. I need help because of something I do on a basketball court. Of course I fucking hate you on a basketball court. Every, we get criticized for being friends with guys on a basketball court. You can't have, so. Yeah. You lay somebody out on the basketball court, you fucking terrorist. Be nice to somebody on a basketball court, you too soft. Like guys are too soft, they're friends, they're this. Everything's a problem. And so in sitting there and watch people attack my character as a man, as a human being over something that happened on a basketball court, It's crazy to me. And like I said, it took me a bunch of different places because I'm like, ah, this has now gotten to a point of where I'm not sure this is what I want. You know, I'm not sure I want to continue to play basketball if this is what it's become. Oh, you do this on the basketball court, you bad human. Like, y'all got kids, 4 of them. Damn. My kids coming to me like, "Daddy." How many you got? 4 of them. I'm catching you.

Slow down, Shaq. I was about to say.

No chance. I'm catching you. Like, you know, my kids coming up to me like, "Daddy, they said you need help. Like, you all right?" I'm like, "Yeah, I'm great." Like, "Do I look all right to you?" They're like, "Yeah, but I saw something on YouTube. It said you need, somebody says you need help." And so when it starts to extend to my kids, I'm like, listen, that's what comes with the, that's what comes with the job. It's a part of the territory. Right? But again, these are claims on my name that has no factual evidence. Like this is not based on facts. This is based on what I did on the basketball court. If I'm honest with you, the same person that sit here and talk to you today is not the person that even go on the basketball court. Right? Like, Right. Not even close to the same person. That is a totally different human being. When I step on the court, I will slap the shit outta you. I will do whatever I need to do to win a basketball game. I'm not that way in my everyday life. And so to see people taking shots at my character, to me, like I said, I went through a range of emotions. I was pissed off. I was sad. I wanted to fight the world. I wanted to not see the world. I won't like, and when I say nah, ain't no suicidal shit. It ain't that serious to me. And I appreciate you hitting me. But a lot of people, even people that think you respect or like going on TV, like, and just feeding into the narrative. I'll tell you one person, I haven't talked to him much since. Stephen A. Smith really pissed me off. And the reason he pissed me off was because he hit me and he's like, yo, it's been hard for a lot of us to talk about you these last few, few days. And you know, for me, I'm like, okay, it's been hard for me to watch, but I'm watching it because I wanna see everything that everybody has to say. But the thing that pissed me off is you tell me it's been hard for people to, y'all to talk about me, but have not one time, like, Stephen A, anytime I meet someone and they say something about you, it's never like, "Yo, I like him. He cool." It's always like, "Man, fuck that dude. He a character. He's this, he's that." And I always say back, "I actually know the guy." Like, "The guy is actually a cool dude." Like, you could take what you want from the TV screen, but I actually know the guy. He's a cool dude and a real dude. And then you get the opportunity to talk about me. And listen, I know you got a job to do. I know you gotta do your thing and say what you gotta say. But at not one point did you say, well, y'all are saying this person is fucked up and this person need help. Now I know the person. Say what you want about the basketball player, that's fine. But I know the person. And by the way, it just wasn't him. To sit back and see those that claim to know and appreciate me as a human being, just flow with the narrative because it was easy to do. I lost a lot of respect for a lot of people.

Shaq's Lakers against your Golden State Warriors, 7-game series. You pick any of my championship team, any of your championship team, who wins? And the bonus question, who the fuck guarding me? Please don't say Andrew Bogut.

So here's the thing.

And you could be honest, you ain't gonna hurt my feelings.

I don't think any one player on our team could've guarded you. I do think there were defensive schemes that we could've thrown at you to affect you. One is not letting you get the ball. So we gonna guard you with a guy in front of you, a guy behind you, They did that. Yeah. I wasn't on the court though.

Portland did that.

Defensive schemes, right?

Draymond Green did that.

Defensive schemes like that. I, when I listen—

Portland did that. Sacramento did that.

I watched. I wasn't on the floor. I'm making defensive game plans.

All right. So what you gonna do? Stand behind me?

I'm standing in the front. Ain't no ball getting to you. However—

What you mean the ball don't get to me? They just gonna throw it over your head.

I'm not. I'm not 6 feet.

But you ain't 7 feet.

I got 7'4", 7'3" wingspan.

And I got 9'4" wingspan.

Yeah, but you still gotta get the ball. You can't get the ball through me.

No, it's gonna go over you, Draymond Green.

Andrew Bogues behind you.

Stop it.

I'm in the front.

Stop it.

We leaving somebody over there to shoot 'cause you can shoot during that time.

I got Bob, I got B Shaw, I got Rick.

Bob ain't just about to stand out there launching. Y'all stand out there launching. Nobody was just launching threes then, Shaq. I don't care how old.

You right about that. But however, but however, Bogie gonna be in foul trouble.

He not getting the ball, Shaq.

But when I'm running down the court, he gonna try to try to muscle me with his weak ass. He gonna get one foul, he gonna get two fouls. Now who your backup center?

Me.

Draymond, stop.

Me.

Draymond.

Shaq, I don't think I could have guarded you. I'm not saying, I'm not saying that. However, You would've had to bring your big outta that drop. You do realize they created, they created, which nobody does anymore because they can't, but they used to call it shacking the screen. Shack the screen where you just stay back in the paint. You gotta shack, man. If you stay back there, I'm gonna nail whoever guarding Steph. I'm gonna nail whoever guard Klay and we gonna dot your eye every play.

Okay. But you know what's gonna happen after that? I'm gonna tell D Fish, get up on him, let him drive, and I'm gonna lay his little ass out.

D Fish can't make him drive. I'm gonna whack him with these screens. You ever seen me set screens?

All it take is one play. All it take is one play to get up on him. And when he drive, I'm laying his ass out.

And then, hey, then we gotta fight.

All right, we just gotta fight then.

And guess what? You getting thrown out the game and me getting thrown out the game. Who's that gonna hurt worse? Your team.

So I guess—

Y'all lose.

So I guess we not gonna fight then, so. Let's rewind the tape. Who's your backup center?

Our backup center was, it depends on which year, but—

Oh, forget all that.

David West is—

Who wins?

Draymond Green.

Who wins that series?

We win the series. Sure.

Draymond, stop it.

For sure.

Listen, I love you and I love your confidence, but ain't no way.

How we lose? How do we lose?

'Cause of me and the Coaster and Big Shot Bob and Big Shot—

We trading two, you get your dunks, we trading twos for threes.

Yeah, but y'all ain't gonna hit threes all the time.

We gonna hit enough of 'em.

Yeah, but not, not all the time.

You just gotta hit the three at 37%.

Who guarding Kobe?

Klay.

We'll continue this conversation.

You can look at, you can look at Klay now.

We'll continue this conversation.

He's not who Klay was then.

We'll continue this conversation on your podcast. No, sure. Ain't nobody guarding him. Ain't nobody guarding me. And ain't nobody guarding Steph. And ain't nobody guarding Klay. I understand that. But y'all not beating us.

Yeah, I think we are probably in 5, maybe 6.

6 what?

Games.

6 years when I'm 40?

Max 6 games.

Draymond.

Max 6 games.

Don't you know Sacramento said that? Portland said that. You know where I grew up at, right?

I know who you are. I grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, in the state of Michigan, which is home of the Detroit Pistons. Y'all lost to the Pistons in '04. And by the way, them my big bros. I love them. I respect them. But like they score 70 points a game. We would've mopped them.

You would've mopped them too?

They score 70 points.

Lemme see.

One of y'all games was like 70 to 67 final. —That's insane.

I didn't get the ball like I was supposed to.

You averaging 17 points a quarter, Shaq.

Yeah, but that was then.

You average 17 points in a quarter today, you lose by 40.

All right, so hold on. I forgot to ask you some questions. Which style we playing, the new style or the old style?

That's the thing. If we playing the old style, we lose.

All right, and if we play—

If we play the new style—

Now we win.

No chance.

Bro, I was the first big to run the court. You think I ain't gonna be right on it?

You felt about the time you was with the Lakers, you weren't moving like that no more.

I was, my—

I mean, not like—

Bro, my first championship, the third one, I was Big Shaq.

First one I was skinny.

First one for sure. No, first one I was skinny Shaq. The second one was medium Shaq. Third one was fat Shaq. And the fourth one was fat Albert Shaq.

So when you was skinny Shaq, you coming up outta that, that drop, you was gonna come up to the 3-point line?

If I had to, every now and then.

And you got your big split.

Boop. Did y'all think I was picking on JaVale McGee when I was doing Shaq N Fu?

Yeah, you for sure used to pick on JaVale. 1000%.

How's it my fault? It's his clips. Shaq N Fu is a show. I didn't, it's his clips. It ain't like I said, find me some JaVale. Like he did the clips and Shaq the Fool was created to get rid of the word bloopers, and we all have bloopers. Like when I used to try to bring the ball up and, you know, to do the Magic Johnson thing, D. Scott and them used to call me Tragic Bronson. Yeah, yeah, Tragic Bronson. So, so when I was creating Shaq the Fool, it was just to create bloopers. So I don't know why y'all think I was picking on him.

No, I mean, you was definitely—

I was laughing, that's all I was doing. You were definitely a little No, it was not.

Wait.

Bro, it's his clips.

They definitely were his clips.

Yeah, see.

They were hilarious too, man. JaVale my guy though. You know what's crazy?

I like JaVale too.

There's a common misconception that he's a dumb guy. He's maybe one of the smartest players I've ever played with.

He's not dumb at all.

He's far, he's like a computer geek. Like nerd.

But—

Basketball, he has some rough moments.

No, no, but big guys, when we try to do little shit and it fuck up, it just looks funnier.

So when Rudy Gobert got fouled and did that.

Oh.

Yesterday.

That's Shaq in the fool. You saw that? Yeah, I'm like, bro, you 7'5". Dunk it.

Yeah, he— All right.

I do this to all NBA players. First, they talk about LeBron and Jordan. The best, the GOATs. And I always ask people, how come my guy's not in that conversation? Do you think my guy deserves to be in that conversation?

Kobe?

Yes.

For sure. 100%.

So how come he's not all the time?

Here's why I think he's not. Because number one, he played with you and people hold that against him. Number 2, I think Kobe kind of fell in a weird time. And what I mean by that is Mike left the league. When Mike left the league, y'all were dominating. And then you left the Lakers. When you left the Lakers, they had a few rough years. Wasn't great. Smush Parker. Like, it just, it wasn't, they didn't have great rosters. Rudy Tomjanovich, like, that was an epic fail. Like, it just, it wasn't great. And while it wasn't going great, there was a young guy in Cleveland starting to make his hay. And so in the years where Kobe could have been dominating, which he was from a numbers standpoint, but they weren't winning nothing. In those years, Bron was making his hay and starting to make his name. And is he the best player? And I think the amount of time that it was a consensus that Kobe was the number one in the league, like the top guy, I don't think it was long enough for everybody to say how, like to put him in that conversation because Bron then came and put his name in the conversation. And so from that point on, it's tug of war, like Christmas Day game between those two guys, it's tug of war. And so I don't think he accumulated enough people in saying that he dominated the way Mike dominated in the length of time that Mike dominated. Bron, the length of time that he's dominated. I don't think Kobe dominated himself for that length of time. And I think that's why people don't put him in the conversation.

I mean, I think it's a subjective conversation.

For sure.

I would just like to hear his name in the conversation. Like, right, they just kind of overlook him and just say, hey, listen, Mike, Bron, Kobe, It can go either way, but I just try to fight for him and just at least, at least when you talk about the GOATs, put his name.

No, and I think he should be, I personally think he should be, but the things that we think and the way we see these things, most people can't see them through this lens, right? So I have no doubt in my mind that he should be. I mean, you look at the numbers, you look at the demeanor, you look at, the impact that he had on the game. Still running around talking about Mamba mentality. What are you talking about? You got no goddamn Mamba mentality. Like, shut up. I hit a shot, Mamba mentality. Shut up. I got no goddamn Mamba mentality.

I thought I was the only one that felt that way.

Give me a break. Oh, Mamba mentality. Shut up. Ain't even a thing for real. That's Kobe. Like, that's it.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's it.

You know, and so I think, When you look at all of those things, the impact that he had on the game, my folks run around Kobe, like, you know, like the impact that he had, you don't have that impact if you not one of the greats, the greatest ever. So there's a lot of guys we've seen come through, score, do this, do, but Kobe, man, I think he's definitely in a conversation, but I do think that's the reason why most people don't put him there.

So gimme your Mount Rushmore.

My Mount Rushmore is, Kobe, Shaq, Bron, and Steph.

I love you, big fella. I appreciate that. That's what apparently to some idiots, I didn't work hard, but I appreciate that, you know.

Come on.

And did you hear my AI diss record?

No.

You didn't hear it?

No.

I'm gonna play it for you. It wasn't me. I just typed some things in the computer, hit a button, and it spit it out. Came out kind of nice. I respect. So before you retire, is there one player you would like to play with?

Before I retire?

How many years you got left?

I got maybe 3, 4 years left. Before I retire, is there one player that I want to play with? I thought I'd have the opportunity this summer to check that off the box. It didn't happen for me. But I would've loved to play with Bron. Not necessarily that I wanna be on his NBA team, but I just would've loved the opportunity to play together because I wanna see how his mind works on a day-to-day basis in a basketball setting. Like, I am— like, when I look at guys with IQ, I think that's one of the, like, best things about Bron is his IQ. Mm-hmm. And I can respect that. And so I would've loved the opportunity just to see on a day-to-day basis how his mind works. Like when something is going on, when there's adjustment that need to be made, how you process that, what's your process like, the things that you go through, how you land here or land there. I would've loved the opportunity, but for me, I, there's, for that reason, I want, I will, I would have loved to play with Bron, but there are like, I've gotten, I've had the opportunity to play with the most electrifying player of the last 15 years. And I've gotten to see that on the day to day and probably last 30, like you name whatever, but I've gotten to see that on a day to day basis. There's not much else I can go see that's gonna make me be like, ah man, I wanna play with this dude. Like I got to play, I've gotten to play with Steph Curry for 12 years. Watch what he do night in and night out for 12 years. Like the way he's changed the game of basketball. I got to watch that change firsthand. When you watch kids play today, they fucking run around shooting threes from the hip. Like, and it's because of Steph Curry. I got to watch that literally happen firsthand. So I, for me personally, I don't really need to look anywhere further. Of someone that I wanna play with. All the guys that I would really love to play with on an NBA team, they not here no more. Like you retired, MJ retired, Kobe gone. Like when you look at the guys that I would, AI, like those are guys that I would've loved to play with. But as far as the NBA goes, Bron's mindset, I would love to see. But man, I've played with Steph Curry. I don't need to look any further for excitement, for greatness, for work ethic, for how a guy leads. Like Steph never does the wrong thing ever. Like he will make the right decision. I don't mean like a turnover or basketball. I'm talking about like in life, like off the floor on, he wouldn't, if there's something like, ah man, I don't know if I wanna go to this. Like we gotta go to this. Thing that don't make sense, he like, yeah, well we should do this. Boom. Always the right thing. Like I got the chance to play with Steph Curry. I don't need to look much further.

So you have 3 rings? 4?

4.

So if you had the opportunity to ring chase into your career and did they need you for, you know, your play, your leadership, would you do that?

If there's something that I could offer to a team and I'm like, oh, I'm the missing piece there. I can go help that team get over the hump. That's a totally different thing, right? Like, that's like, I can go contribute to a championship. That's different than like, man, let me go see if I could just fall into one more. You know what I'm saying? Like, nah, I want to be able to contribute. And saying that—

And that has like a big, like a big four. Phoenix, for example. Phoenix say, hey, we wanna, we need you, would you?

I think that'd be a hell of an opportunity, but the Warriors will have to not want me anymore because I've been there 12 years. The thing like people tend to forget, but the Warriors was the laughingstock of the NBA when I arrived there. Won 23 games a year before. When I arrived there. I told a story recently about Marshawn Lynch laughing at me when I was like, I'm getting drafted to the, I just got drafted to the Warriors. He's like, ah, y'all suck. Like, I remember those days. I remember walking around downtown Oakland as a rookie, passing out tickets, guys getting on the BART, the train, and runs through the bay, the BART, passing out tickets to games as a rookie. I remember that. That's October 2012. We won our first championship June 2015. Wasn't that far removed. So we built this thing up from the ground, man. It's like, you know, it's a different feeling for us because that's our baby. Like that, the Warriors, what they was? Nothing.

Nothing.

And so to see that growth and take part in that growth, that's not something you just walk away from. Just to walk away from. They'd have to not want me anymore. And for me personally, because I love that organization, I will always do right by the organization because it's no ill will for me. It's not like I've been treated bad. You know, Andre and Shawn, them, they would always tell us like, yo, y'all don't know the real NBA. And I can raise my hand and say, Gladly, I don't. I don't know the real nasty side of the business of the NBA. I never had to see that. And I'm very thankful to that organization that I haven't. And so they'd have to not want me for me to go somewhere else. And then at that point it's like, all right, which team can I go help that can win a championship? Right? But not just like, ah, like if I had to stay and go to state, another 5 years and we not make the playoffs for 5 years straight, I'm totally fine with that. Not because I'm not a competitor, but because I'd rather do it. I'd rather struggle with the same guys that I succeeded with. It ain't about, oh, we struggling now, I need to go that way. Nah, I'd rather struggle the same way we succeeded together. I'd rather struggle together as opposed to, oh, I can go over here and do this. Well, if they don't want me, then great. That's my mindset. I'm gonna go over here and try to do that. But as long as they have me, I got no reason to ever wanna leave that place.

Well, I appreciate you coming. Biggest hater inside and outside the NBA?

Biggest hater inside the NBA and outside the NBA. That's interesting. 'Cause there's a lot of haters.

A lot.

Biggest hater in the NBA, Is, well, see, that's the thing. Like in the NBA, like are these media guys considered being in the NBA or no? No, right? No.

Okay.

So it's somebody actually in the NBA.

And if you wanna add a media guy, go ahead.

I mean, biggest hater outside the NBA is Skip Bayless for sure. Dude just sit up there and spew hate. I hope I give him a soundbite for a show.

'Cause it's dying.

But he just sit out there and like spew hate. Like when you're hating on LeBron James every single day, for instance, like there's nothing this man has done to give you something to hate on every single day. Like you're a hater. So I'd say outside the NBA is for sure Skill Bayless. Inside the NBA, I'm gonna have to go—

Draymond Green.

Man, that's a tough one. 'Cause guys be trying to hide their hate.

They do.

They be trying to hide the hate.

They do.

Like for real hide it. Biggest hater inside the NBA is Nurkic.

I knew you was gonna say that. Hater. Oh, you need help.

Oh, that brother still need help. Like, you need help, big softy.

And what's the tweet you sent them when they lost?

That's all, folks.

Yeah. Tell me this though, Shaq.

How are you gonna tweet at us, "That's all folks." Yeah. And you got the worst playoff record in NBA history, the worst win percentage. And then, but you gonna tweet, "That's all folks." Man, I can go to sleep for 5 years and wake up. You still won't have half the playoff wins we've accumulated. How you gonna tweet that? But I need help.

Right.

I'm the one that need help. Who needs help here? 'Cause clearly, you know, you ever see somebody like, hey, who gonna tell him? Like, who gonna tell him that that was just stupid?

Yeah.

You set yourself up for failure because it's a guaranteed proven fact that you're gonna lose. It's actually not a proven fact that when we're in the playoffs, we're gonna lose because 4 times, We won it. It is a proven fact that even if you get there—

You gonna lose.

Not even lose the series. Like we know you gonna lose the series. You're gonna struggle to get wins, like a win in the series. You can't say that. Like that's just like, but I need help. And so that to me, when you're just sitting at home watching, like that's all folks.

Right.

Like bro, by the way, We the 10 seed, my man. Think about that. You sitting at home tweeting the 10 seed is done. Brother, we were actually supposed to lose. We 10 seed. We barely skated into the play-in. That's all, folks. That's hate. I mean, come on. Like, that's hate. So I gotta go with Big Softy.

All right. And there you have it. That's all, folks. Appreciate you, brother. Y'all wouldn't have beat us though, Draymond.

You trippin'. We for sure would have beat y'all. You would not. Yeah!

Who the fuck guarding me? Please don't say Andrew Bogut.