Shaquille O’Neal has spent most of his post-career life arguing, loudly, hilariously, and often convincingly, that he belongs in the same historical air as anyone who ever played. That’s why his latest comments on The Big Podcast with Shaq landed with a different kind of weight: the Diesel didn’t campaign for himself. He disqualified himself.
With Carmelo Anthony as his guest, O’Neal drew a hard boundary around the modern “greatest of all time” conversation.
“I’m not in the GOAT conversation. Listen, it’s only three people in the greatest of all time conversation… It’s Kobe, Bron, and Mike, okay, that’s it.”
It’s a striking admission from a man whose résumé is built like a monument: four championships, three Finals MVPs, an MVP, and a peak of physical dominance that forced an entire league to roster extra seven-footers just to survive. But O’Neal didn’t frame it as humility. He framed it as realism.
“Listen, I’m arrogant, but I’m not dumb,” he said, acknowledging that the GOAT debate often becomes a popularity contest unless you define the terms clearly.
Then he explained what changed for him. Shaq said he once wanted the top spot outright, “Lion King,” as he put it, but adjusted the way he thinks about legacy.
“We all have our subcategories… Like, I always wanted to be Lion King. But to me, like I had to modify what I was saying,”
O’Neal said, essentially arguing that greatness isn’t one single ladder so much as a collection of peaks. The real mission of the segment, though, wasn’t Shaq removing his own name. It was Shaq putting Kobe Bryant back into the sport’s top tier, where he believes Bryant has been unfairly excluded as the debate drifted into a two-man duel between Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
“But my thing is, if you’re going to have the conversation, have the correct conversation. For so long, it was just Mike and Bron. And now I’m like, ‘Oh, I understand the great picks. What about the Kobster?’” Shaq said, making the case that Bryant’s achievements and impact should place him alongside the other two.
That view also fits Shaq’s broader public stance in recent years. He has repeatedly argued for a tighter “inner circle” rather than constantly expanding the GOAT label to include everyone with rings, stats, and longevity. The difference here is the finality: he isn’t arguing over who’s first; he’s arguing for who should even be invited into the room.
There’s a reason this clip resonated beyond the usual debate churn. Shaq is one of the few legends who can credibly speak from direct proximity to all three names he cited, he played against Jordan, played with Bryant and with LeBron. His conclusion wasn’t a data dump or a social-media hot take. It was the way former superstars often talk when the cameras go off: define the category, keep the circle small, and respect the players who carried the era.
