Shaq on ‘We Done With the 90’s’: “It’s cute, but it’s natural”
Yahoo Sports senior NBA writer Vincent Goodwill spoke with the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer about the ongoing social media trend.
Video Transcript
VINCENT GOODWILL: I don't know if you've seen this, but there's a segment of social media that is trying to discredit everything that's been done in the '90s and the 2000s.
SHAQUILLE O'NEAL: I saw it.
VINCENT GOODWILL: You saw that?
SHAQUILLE O'NEAL: Yeah.
VINCENT GOODWILL: We're done with the '90s. They're trying to show Michael Jordan doesn't have a left hand. And Magic Johnson didn't know what he was doing.
SHAQUILLE O'NEAL: It's so insane.
VINCENT GOODWILL: What do you-- what do you make of that, besides laughing? What do you make of that?
SHAQUILLE O'NEAL: It's cute, but it's natural. And let me tell you about it's natural. They always compare me to Will Chamberlain, and I'm looking at his '70s highlights like, I would have killed this guy. So it's just, you know, normal stuff like the stuff that we see in 2024 is way more advanced than the stuff we see in the '90s. So if you're a guy, especially on social media, and all you see is the 2024, 2024, 2024, and then you see 1990, you're definitely not going to be impressed by the 1990.
But when I came in 1990, I wasn't impressed by Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or Will Chamberlain footage. They only had one or two moves. Nobody was banging them under the rim. And nobody act like they wanted to fight them. So for me, doing exactly what this generation was doing, I'd say the same thing about the '60s, the '70s, and the '80s. So it's cute. I understand it.
But it's just-- it's life. You know, it's just a phase of what we go through. And they actually, you know, make some good points because like, I don't really have a lot of '90s memories now. All my memories are like Steph Curry and [INAUDIBLE] Edwards, you know, what these guys are doing now. So.
VINCENT GOODWILL: Shaq, I remember-- no, I remember when you first came in the league how much of an athletic marvel you were. And I remember you when you got to the Lakers and you refined your game. I don't think there's anybody in today's game that could physically match up with you, not even Embiid.
SHAQUILLE O'NEAL: Hey, you know what? And they know that too. That's why they don't really mess with me. They always try to say, oh, well you got to guard the three point line. No, I wasn't known for defense. You got to guard me.
