vlade divac 2015

NBA great Shaquille O’Neal has been retired from professional basketball since 2011. But it appears as if a former fellow star is not hesitating to “dunk” on the big man as the two try to enjoy their retirements off the court while reflecting on their impactful careers.

Vlade Divac, a former star center for the Sacramento Kings, recently stated that Shaq was only “strong” but not actually “talented” during his 20-year career.

“I’ve been in basketball a long, long time and I have to say (DeMarcus Cousins is) the most talented big guy I have ever seen,” Divac said in a recent interview. “Shaq wasn’t talented, he was just strong. I was talented, but I wasn’t strong.”

Ironically, Shaq is now a minority owner of the Kings, which is Divac’s former team. He is technically his boss, too, as Divac remains involved with the Kings.

Who really has the guts to say anything negative about a future, first-ballot Hall of Famer in his retirement from a game he dominated for a good 10 or 12 years? Divac should let the 7-footer’s career speak for itself. Perhaps he is still holding a grudge due to Shaq’s playoff dominance over Divac in the NBA playoffs from 1999 through 2001 when O’Neal was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Granted, Shaq was not the best free-throw shooter on the planet. He wasn’t terribly dominant in his final years in the league, either, but most athletes experience some decline. (Of course, he was certainly a much better athlete than actor, thanks to his below-average starring role in Kazaam.) There’s just no way you can legitimately make such a comment about one of the biggest household names in sports – and one of the most talented players to ever step on a basketball court.