Shaquille O’Neal admits he’s jealous of today’s NBA salaries

As a guest on the “Rex Chapman show”, Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has given his thought on today’s NBA salaries, saying he is “jealous” of these salaries, but he’s happy for the players.

"I’m jealous, but I’m happy [for them]," Shaq said. "I’m jealous because I always thought that you had to have Michael-Jordan, superb-type numbers to get that type of money. That’s what it was in my era, but I’m happy for the kids. The reason why I bring up Rudy Gobert, people think I’m hating, it’s not. He’s a good big man, but I’m used to dealing with great big men. (…) Rudy Gobert is not the average-type, big-guy NBA player anymore. The average big they’re looking for now is a guy that can pick-and-pop and do whatever. Rudy Gobert is big, tall, plays hard, plays great defense, a Defensive Player of the Year, and he’s making $200 million. So, all you big guys out there, look at him. Follow him. You’re not going to be LeBron, you’re not going to be Kobe, you’re not going to be Shaq, you’re not going to be Garnett, but I think there’s a lot of big guys even today that can do the things that he can do. When I tell the story, people think, ‘Oh you’re just jealous!’ Yeah, I am jealous that he’s making $250 [million]. Yeah, I’ll say I’m jealous. However, for this game of ours, it can motivate a young kid today… All these guys that are watching, this is what motivates them."