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JaVale McGee Spill Beans on How Shaquille O’Neal Destroyed His Confidence
Shaquille O'Neal is one of the most entertaining characters in the sports world but that doesn't mean his words go down well with everyone.
Shaquille O'Neal occasionally underestimates the impact of his criticism of players. JaVale McGee was so severely damaged by O'Neal's unceasing attacks on him that the center began to lose faith in himself. McGee disclosed on a Dwight Howard podcast episode how much he disliked making frequent appearances on Shaq's "Shaqtin-A-Fool."
The three-time NBA champ claimed that the media was extremely harsh on him and painted an inaccurate narrative about him—showing bloopers but not his highlights. It got to the point where supporters started to think the 7-foot center wasn't a talented player and that he shouldn't even be playing in the league.
“It affected me more because I didn’t understand how strong the media was and I didn’t understand that people actually took it seriously. That was when it messed me up. I was like, Oh, y’all really think like out of this game, I did one bad play, but I had 15 and six blocks. But y’all didn’t show none of that.”
Additionally, McGee’s morale further took a hit when kids came up to him and teased him.
“People was like ‘oh yeah he’s horrible, why is he even in the league’. I was just like ‘oh sh*t people really think this I’m really bad, they don’t really think I’m a good player’. Kids coming up to me ‘ah Shaqtin-A-Fool’.”
McGee took the brunt of the criticism for the longest. Though there was a legitimate blooper, McGee soon broke his silence when he appeared on an episode of Shaqtin-A-Fool. This motivated him to tune out the media, particularly this NBA on the TNT segment.
Some athletes, such as Trae Young and Dillon Brooks, are used to playing the "villain" role in the league. The 36-year-old continued by saying that he had no trouble adopting the persona of a "clown" in closing. Nevertheless, he insisted on receiving "clown" pay as opposed to the meager compensation he received along with ongoing disdain.
ALSO READ: Shaquille O’Neal Goes After Skip Bayless While Poking Fun at Shannon Sharpe’s NSFW Instagram Live
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