Lakers Legend Shaquille O'Neal Makes His Pick for Worst NBA Player

The three-time L.A. Finals MVP has a strange choice for his Worst Of All Time.

Mar 24, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA: Former Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal speaks during a NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, the Minnesota Timberwolves' lucratively compensated center, has had a rough go of it this spring and summer. Although he helped guide Minnesota to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in two decades, his limitations as a defender were once again capitalized on by the opposition once he got there — in this case, the Dallas Mavericks' cadre of athletic bigs took advantage of the slow-footed 32-year-old.

Former Los Angeles Lakers MVP center Shaquille O'Neal, who won three straight championships and Finals MVP honors with the franchise from 2000-02, and his son Myles appeared on Complex Sports' "GOAT Talk" to unpack a variety of topics. But the viral moment happened when Myles asked his 15-time All-Star father who his "WOAT" (Worst Of All Time) was. Shaquille O'Neal claimed it was the 7-foot-1 Frenchman, although presumably that was a joke, and more of a pick for a present-tense worst player. Surely, Gobert is better than, say, 6-foot-5 center Ken Corley, who played three games and scored zero points for the 1946-47 Cleveland Rebels of the then-Basketball Association of America.

"Rudy Gobert," Shaquille O'Neal said when asked to pick the worst player ever.

"Oh my God, I knew he was going to say Rudy Gobert," Myles O'Neal laughed.

"You know why?" O'Neal added. "If you sign a contract for [$250 million], show me 250. There's a reason why I walk funny and why I can't turn my neck... because I played for my [$120 million contract I signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996]. So you got guys like him that f--- the system over. They're making all this money and they can't fucking play. So I don't respect guys like that."

In fairness, Gobert is in the midst of a five-year contract for "just" $205 million. The four-time Defensive Player of the Year has a player option worth $46.7 million during the 2025-26 season.

Gobert is a three-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA honoree, a seven-time All-Defensive Teamer, and a four-time Defensive Player of the Year. Across 76 contests for the 56-26 Timberwolves last year, he averaged 14.0 points on 66.1 percent field goal shooting and 63.8 percent foul line shooting, 12.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.3 assists a night. O'Neal's larger contention — that the big man is not worth his salary — has merit, sure, but Gobert is still very much a plus player at present.

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