Shaquille O’Neal is no stranger to criticism. The most dominant big man of all time has been questioned over a lot of things in his career. The “sensitive” tag is still bestowed on him, especially by his good friend Charles Barkley. He has called out Shaq for getting triggered easily.

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However, there is one person who Shaq thinks can criticize him, and it won’t be an issue. The Big Man once revealed on his podcast that if Stephen Curry is the one saying things about him, he won’t mind. Shaq was talking about Dak Prescott when he granted this privilege to Curry.

Shaquille O’Neal explained Stephen Curry’s privilege

This was around the time when Prescott was being heavily scrutinized by fans and teammates alike. Discussing the topic on The Big Podcast, the Big Man stated that the criticism is unfair. After the discussion, Nischelle Turner asked Shaq, since he didn’t like it when his teammates talked about him, what would he have done if he was in Prescott’s situation. Shaq said, “I’m hot and we’re gonna handle that at the next team meeting. Like I always did.” As we know, Shaq doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind, so he would’ve retaliated to the blatant disrespect.

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 10: Former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal attends SiriusXM At Super Bowl LVII on February 10, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

However, there is one exception that the 4x NBA champion was willing to make. That exception is called Wardell Stephen Curry. Shaq said, “If you ain’t playing the perfect Steph Curry-type game, don’t talk about what I do or what I didn’t do.” Shaq said that one needs to have a certain credibility to their name before one comes out trashing others. Shaq thinks that someone like Steph possesses that credibility, as he has earned it through hard work over the years.

Another thing that Shaq didn’t like about the Prescott situation was that his teammates were making public admissions of the issues. He said that as teammates, they should’ve tried solving it within their locker room. As for the hypothetical situation in the Big Man’s life, he said, “If you didn’t tell me to my face and you tell them, we’ve got a problem because I just saw you.”

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Shaq showed his team player side while discussing the topic and what he said about Curry . It shows that the Big Man is indeed humble and acknowledges greatness. Despite Barkley’s regular jibe at him, Shaq is a sensitive individual who doesn’t respond well to criticism.

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Maybe it’s not the criticism, it’s the source that matters more to him.

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