Credits: USA Today Sports

Paul George recently showered high praise for Joel Embiid as he openly talked about the NBA teams’ struggles in stopping him. The Los Angeles Clippers star even compared Embiid to Shaquille O’Neal drawing parallels between their size and gameplay. However, in an interesting turn of events, Gilbert Arenas dismissed those comments as he shed light on the differences between the two centers.

In a recent episode of Podcast P with Paul George, the 33-year-old explained his stance publicly. “He is our generation and our version of Shaq. I’m sure how teams had to match up with Shaq. Bro, there’s nobody you can put on Joel. You put a big on him, he’s gonna go around them. You put a small on him, he’s gonna punish him,” George mentioned.

These words caught the attention of Arenas as he revealed his thoughts on the matter during his show, Gil’s Arena. The 3x All-Star shed light on the key separating factor between the centers, stating, “Embiid, he has probably tasted a double at some point but 4 motherf**kers were guarding Shaquille O’Neal. That’s the only difference here. There was four guarding Shaq trynna stop him versus just he one-on-one matchups”.

So, the 46-year-old backed the 4x champion as he put the limelight on how the current rules and style benefit the 76ers’ talisman. Through his words thus Arenas wanted to highlight how Shaq’s endeavors required far more determination and toughness.

Interestingly, Shaq shared a similar set of beliefs as he openly addressed the comparisons. In the latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, the 51-year-old mentioned, “I did that with four motherf****rs on me. He don’t get doubled”.

It further established the point of view of Arenas as Shaq backed himself on this instance. While Paul George isn’t wrong in his praise for Embiid, calling him the Shaq of this era was more than just a tad too far.

‘The Big Diesel’ was forced to deal with serious physical punishment on a nightly basis. Compared to that, Embiid often gets foul calls even if the only contact made by the opposing defender, is with the air.

Embiid is undoubtedly an incredible player in today’s NBA. However, at this point in time, he is no Shaquille O’Neal.

Shaquille O’Neal demanded more from Joel Embiid

A few months ago, the sports analyst criticized the reigning MVP of the league on The Rich Eisen Show for not using his size to his advantage. “He’s 6’11”. He is not posting up. He is shooting jumpers,” the 2000 MVP mentioned before adding, “Get your big a** down in the paint”.

Following that, the Big Aristotle issued a message for Embiid, raising the challenge of winning the championship. “We know what you can do but can you do it at the big dance? Can you get the phone number at the big dance and can you take it home and close the deal?” he questioned.

Thus, the 76ers center still has a long way to go to earn the respect of the entire basketball fraternity. Despite continuing to terrorize his opponents this season with his dominant display, the community wants to witness it translate into a ring. That’s the next challenge for the 29-year-old as he seems to embrace it on this occasion.