NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal recently weighed in on the potential impact of a championship win on the legacy of Dallas Mavericks’ phenom Luka Doncic.
During an episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, O’Neal shared insights on how securing an NBA title could alter the perception of Doncic’s career.
“The monkey would definitely be off his back,” O’Neal remarked, highlighting the significance of a championship triumph in solidifying Doncic’s status among basketball’s elite.
Acknowledging the relentless nature of sports discourse, O’Neal emphasized the importance of sustained success for players seeking to cement their legacies.
“But then when you start comparing him to others,” he continued. “Hopefully they will say like they do all the other greats ‘All right, you got one, now go get two. Yeah, you got two, go get three. Ooh you got three, Steph [Curry] got four.’ But for guys like that all you need is one. Dirk [Nowitzki] one.
O’Neal referenced the league’s iconic figures, such as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson, whose enduring greatness transcends individual accolades.
“But you talk about legacies, I was taught by my dad is that if you have to question it, are you real that good? Like when you have conversations like, for example, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson. The way I played and if you got to have a conversation, that means I’m not as good as I thought I was.”
