Shaquille O'Neal speculates NBA could honor LeBron James with MVP award as 'farewell' gesture

NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal thinks the league could give LeBron James the MVP award as a "farewell" gift. In a clip from O'Neal's show "The Big Podcast with Shaq" on Tuesday, the topic of which player could win the MVP was discussed.

His co-host, Adem Lefkoe, named the cast of Netflix's "Starting 5" as one of his options for the prize. Lefkoe asked Shaq to choose from LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Jimmy Butler, and Domantas Sabonis as his MVP choice. He also allowed him to name additional players who weren't picked for the first season of the Netflix series.

For O'Neal, he sees Tatum as a player he could bet on to win the MVP award. Shaq also named the LA Lakers star to earn the honor, for an interesting reason.

"I'd say Tatum, or if the Lakers are doing well, 1, 2, 3, 4 spots, they may try to give it to LeBron to just, farewell tour," O'Neal said.

James has not addressed his potential retirement from the league. However, the four-time champion has hinted about the big decision on when he'll retire.

"It's pretty cool the amount of miles I put on the tires, the lack of tread on these tires I'm still able to get up and down the highway and do it at a high level," James said after a triple-double in their 123-103 win against the Toronto Raptors.

"We'll see how long I can do, it but I won’t do it until the wheels fall off, I’ll tell you that. I won't be one of those guys."

James is in his 22nd season in the league, seventh for the Lakers. He's averaging 23.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.9 assists while shooting 44.4% of his threes.

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LeBron James hypes the dunk of Shaquille O'Neal's son

Shaquille O'Neal's son, Shaqir, is in his third collegiate season playing for the Florida A&M Rattlers. During their 84-53 loss against Maryland, O'Neal had a highlight dunk that hyped the Lakers star.

James posted the dunk on his Instagram story on Monday.

James hyped O'Neal's dunk against Maryland

Take a look at the young player's dunk in the video below.

O'Neal transferred from Texas Southern and is playing for Florida for the first time in the 2024–25 season. This season, the son of the NBA legend is averaging 5.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists in just three games.

He played 27 minutes and scored nine points in his finest game to date against Maryland. The 6-foot-7 forward collected five boards in their loss.