Kanye West is one celebrity who has been in the news for all of the wrong reasons lately, and Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal seems to think that he knows why.
The award-winning rapper and producer has issued some worrisome and harmful statements in recent weeks, and O’Neal believes that West needs to “humble himself” and move past his narcissistic tendencies.
The four-time NBA champion said as much during a recent episode of his own podcast. He added that he believes he has the right to speak on the matter because he had to humble himself earlier in his life.
“I heard the word narcissist,” he began. “I always heard about it. I looked it up and was like, ‘Oh s—, that was me.’ So this is why things are going crazy for him ’cause look how he acts, and I used to act like that. So, I can call him that ’cause that was once me, but I’m out of it ’cause I’m humble now. … You have to humble yourself, can’t be arrogant. When you’re arrogant, you lose everything. Then when you lose everything, you want to blame it on people. … You want to blame it on me. I don’t even know you like that, homie.
“This will be the last time I talk about this, but I see what he’s going through. And I see why he is the way he is. He’s a narcissist, and I was like that, so I can call him that.”
As O’Neal’s media career has grown over the last several years, it has been great to see the former NBA star become one of the most insightful voices in sports media. This statement is just another example of O’Neal’s incredible insight into basketball and life.
O’Neal offered a similarly interesting message to NFL superstar Tom Brady in regard to Brady’s recent divorce and struggles on the field. O’Neal likened it to when he struggled on the NBA court while he was going through a tough divorce.
“During the 2006 Finals, I was going through a divorce, and I couldn’t do anything right,” O’Neal stated. “That’s when I had to give everything to D-Wade (Dwyane Wade), like, ‘I don’t have it.’ Tom’s going through a tough time right now. It has nothing to do with his age or football, but when you’re dealing with that real-life stuff, it takes a lot. … I know he’s going through a lot. I don’t know his situation, but I wish him well, and hopefully they can reconcile and get back together.”
It’s cool to see O’Neal use his own life experiences to try to better understand and explain what is going on with other public figures. After all, O’Neal is one of the few people on Earth who knows what it’s like to be as famous as individuals like West and Brady.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see if West himself responds to O’Neal’s recent statement. If he does respond, O’Neal will have to decide whether he is going to stick to his word and not comment on the matter or continue trading barbs with the disgraced hip-hop legend.
