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Shaquille O’Neal Defends LeBron James and Michael Jordan From Enes Kanter: “I Don’t Give a Sh*t What He Changed His Name To”
Defaming Michael Jordan in the world of basketball is like blasphemy for those who treat NBA like a religion. And among various people who treat the NBA like religion, most are NBA players or its loyal fans. Therefore, they can not bear with anything being said about Michael Jordan. After his disagreement with LeBron James and critique of Michael Jordan, Enes Kanter has drawn a lot of criticism from NBA players and fans.
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is one such player who has played with both LeBron and Michael. He is actively giving the cold shoulder to Kanter for his disrespect of the legends. Therefore, when the news of him changing his name broke the internet, here’s what Shaquille O’Neal had to say about it.
ORLANDO, FL – 1993: Shaquille O’Neal #32 of the Orlando Magic poses with Michael Jordan #23 of the Chicago Bulls prior to playing an NBA game circ 1993 at the TD Waterhouse Centre in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Shaq does not bear with LeBron James and Michael Jordan’s disrespect
On this week’s The Big Podcast with Shaquille O’Neal, Nischelle Turner, and Spice Adams, Metta Sandiford-Artest made an appearance. Turner asked the Lakers legends Shaquille and Metta about what they felt of Kanter’s name change. To this Shaq quickly lost his cool and said that despite his beef with LeBron James, he could not handle the disrespect of Michael Jordan by Enes Kanter. Hence, Shaq had little to say about him, let alone something about his name.
Nov 19, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) reacts during the second half against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
However, he did state, “I don’t know his name, I’m not memorizing his name and I don’t give a sh*t what he changed his name to.” And just as Shaq strongly took a stand on the side of Michael Jordan; only a few NBA fans are on Enes Kanter’s side in the whole disagreement. Nevertheless, the main takeaway for Kanter from this is that one simply does not disrespect Michael Jordan.
Why did Enes Kanter change his name?
Enes Kanter changed his name to celebrate him becoming a US Citizen. He told CNN that the name change will commemorate his struggle for freedom throughout his life. Kanter said, “Here there is freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of the press,” he said. “I didn’t have any of those with Turkey.”
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The post Shaquille O’Neal Defends LeBron James and Michael Jordan From Enes Kanter: “I Don’t Give a Sh*t What He Changed His Name To” appeared first on EssentiallySports.
