Shaquille O’Neal is known to be pretty straightforward when putting forward his opinions. Recently, in an appearance on ‘The Big Podcast,’ Adam Lefkoe tossed around the probability of Jayson Tatum being a future Hall of Famer. While he argued that Tatum has received a significant amount of accolades for his name already, O’Neal did not seem impressed at all.
Speaking on the same, O’Neal pointed out that an athlete needs to have a certain credibility to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The NBA icon did not think Tatum’s resume was worthy enough to be put into the Hall of Fame as of now. Taking a hilarious jab at Lefkoe, O’Neal stated that he was ‘throwing people’ into the Hall of Fame.
“You (expletive) just throwing people in there now,” said O’Neal.
Shaq on if Jayson Tatum is already a Hall of Famer:
— The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) June 5, 2025
“Motherf*****s just throwing people in [the Hall of Fame] now…”
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Shaq then went on to delve further into the matter. He stated that there were two types of Hall of Fame in the NBA: one was a ‘bad’ one, while the other was a ‘basketball’ one. Meanwhile, despite O’Neal looking unimpressed, Boston Celtics President Brad Stevens expressed his support for Tatum.
Brad Stevens Supports Jayson Tatum After All-NBA Honors
Jayson Tatum suffered a gruesome injury that left him with a torn ACL. But before that, Tatum was in some incredible form for the Celtics. He is almost certain to miss a large chunk of the upcoming season. And Tatum had some sort of a ’feel good’ moment after he received his All-NBA honors. And to give him a further boost, the Celtics’ President Of Basketball, Brad Stevens, heaped praises on the Celtics’ star.
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“Congratulations to Jayson on his all NBA selection… he’s a great teammate and player, and is deserving of all the accolades that come his way,” said Stevens.
“Congratulations to Jayson on his all NBA selection… he’s a great teammate and player, and is deserving of all the accolades that come his way.”
— jb (@lockedupjb) May 24, 2025
— Brad Stevens on Jayson Tatum’s All-NBA selection
(via @NoaDalzell) pic.twitter.com/9wWPseCzfZ
Surely, Jayson Tatum’s performance got a lot of people talking. And now, it remains to be seen how well the Celtics star forward can bounce back.
Also Read: Jayson Tatum Reportedly Turning To Kevin Durant As Blueprint For Achilles Rehab Journey
