The Utah Jazz’s role in Shaq’s beef with Rudy Gobert

It’s safe to say that Rudy Gobert does not have a fan in Shaquille O’Neal.
During a recent podcast appearance, Shaq once again criticized the former Utah Jazz player, calling him the worst NBA player of all time and claiming he’s not worth his contract.
Gobert responded to the assessment in an X post shared Thursday.
“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,” he wrote.
Shaq’s beef with Gobert stems in part from the blockbuster trade between the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves in July 2022 that sent Gobert to Minnesota.
In return for the French center, the Jazz received multiple players and multiple first-round picks. The deal essentially reset the NBA trade market, making teams cough up much more for star players, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Shaq is among those who don’t believe Gobert was worth all those assets — and don’t believe he deserves the huge contract that Minnesota took over from the Jazz.
“You got guys like him that (messed up) the system and they’re making all this money and they can’t (expletive) play. So I don’t respect guys like that,” Shaq said during the recent podcast appearance.
Shaq’s comments are likely confusing for some NBA fans. Is it fair to say Gobert can’t play when he just won a record-tying fourth Defensive Player of the Year Award?
Gobert played in 76 games for Minnesota during the 2023-24 regular season and averaged 14 points per game, per NBA.com. Perhaps more importantly, he averaged nearly 13 total rebounds per game and 2.1 blocks.
But Gobert has definitely had some bad basketball moments in recent months. Most notably, he was benched during the Olympics as the French team pursued a medal.
The French coach, Vincent Collet, said Gobert was benched so that the team could try smaller lineups, per ESPN.
In addition to facing criticism for his on-court performance, Gobert has been scrutinized for his at-times contentious relationship with other players.
An ESPN article from this spring noted that he’s often been mocked and picked on by other NBA stars — and especially by Draymond Green — even during the highest points of his career.
When asked by USA Today to give more context for his recent criticism of Gobert, Shaq said he hopes his words will motivate Gobert to play so well that Shaq looks dumb.
“I’m not hating, I’m telling you the truth. If you don’t like the truth, that’s something you got to deal with,” Shaq said. “Show what you gonna do. … Shut me up.”