Rudy Gobert’s response to Shaquille O’Neal’s diatribe is NBA’s mic-drop moment of the week

Four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert wasted little time in responding to Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal. After finding himself on the receiving end of criticism from O'Neal this week, Gobert made a rare appearance on X, formerly known as Twitter, to fire back amid a slow start to September.

During an interview with Complex earlier in the week, Gobert caught an unexpected stray from O'Neal, who called him the worst NBA player of all time. When the interviewer asked O’Neal about Ben Simmons, a player who many feel hasn’t lived up to expectations throughout his career, O’Neal pushed back.

The four-time champ doubled down on his pick of Gobert as the worst. O'Neal claimed that a player like Gobert, who is signed to a $205 million contract, should be performing better.

On Thursday, Rudy Gobert responded to the video of O’Neal. While Shaq had nothing but harsh comments about Gobert, saying that it’s unfair players like the Timberwolves center make hundreds of millions of dollars while firemen and teachers struggle, Gobert responded with pure respect, writing:

"It is sad to see someone that has accomplished as much as you did @SHAQ both in sport and business still be triggered by another man’s finances and accomplishments. I get the entertainment part but unlike other folks, you don’t need that stuff to stay relevant"

"These are facts" - Shaquille O'Neal dismisses notion that he's hating on Rudy Gobert

Despite what many considered to be harsh comments, Shaquille O'Neal explained why he believes Gobert is the worst player in the NBA:

"Every time I make these comments, people think I'm hating, but these are facts. You got teachers, you got firemen, you got doctors who have real jobs and don't get paid sh*t."

Of course, as we've seen in the past, this isn't the first time that the Hall of Famer has taken aim at Gobert.

Looking back at the origins of Shaquille O'Neal's feud with Rudy Gobert

Over the years, Shaquille O’Neal has made a number of comments about Rudy Gobert, going back to 2019. At the time, Gobert was emotional that he wasn’t named an All-Star, leading to O’Neal taking aim at the big man in an interview with TMZ:

“There is no crying in basketball … Maybe he was sad he didn’t make it, but it happens like that sometimes. I remember when I made it 15 years in a row and the last year I didn’t make it, I guess I wasn’t good enough. But that’s not something to cry about … Man up.”

After the comment, O'Neal didn't take aim at Rudy Gobert for another two years, when his criticism of the big man ramped up. When Gobert signed a $205 million contract, O’Neal took aim at the big man on the All Things Covered Podcast.

At the time, he said Gobert’s contract should be an inspiration to kids everywhere that averaging 11 points in the NBA can earn them a $200 million deal. However, O’Neal said he was happy for Gobert and his family.

Since then, O'Neal has continued to take shots at Gobert in the media time and time again on a more frequent basis, without two years in between controversial comments.