The spotlight on Michael Jordan persists but for all the wrong reasons. After a string of controversies hinted at inflation in his home game statistics during playing days, the NBA community continues to raise question marks over his greatness. Amidst MJ’s agony, Shaquille O’Neal recently defended his pride while using John Stockton’s assist record as a reference.
After Adam Lefkoe brought up this topic during the latest The Big Podcast episode, Shaq expressed annoyance at the ongoing drama. He admitted the possibility of the home scorekeepers favoring the all-time greats while narrating Stockton’s historic endeavor. However, the 52-year-old wanted the viewers to make peace with the past and move on, stating,
“I sat there and watched John Stockton’s last game where he threw it to a guy and the guy took ten dribbles and two steps and he was able to break the assist record. Do they get extra love at home? They do. But it doesn’t matter. It’s there. It’s documented. You wanna impress me, go back and change it”.
The controversy surfaced from Yahoo Sports’ Tom Haberstroh’s extensive report on MJ’s 1988 DPOY season. It was noted that Jordan recorded significantly more steals and blocks in home games compared to his away clashes. The statistics didn’t add up properly in several home games, as ‘The Black Jesus’ registered more steals than the opposing team’s turnovers.
The allegations piled up when Jordan’s closeness with the then Chicago Bulls scorekeeper, Bob Rosenberg, came to the limelight. Several reports in the past indicated how the latter was fond of the 6x MVP, coming to his aid during times of need. He even made scrapbooks for MJ to celebrate his accomplishments, raising further eyebrows amongst the fans.
Despite these claims, Shaq refused to pay much attention to the controversy. Contradicting the ongoing notion, he pointed out how the well-documented past remained out of the present’s control. O’Neal consequently urged the fans to leave the NBA greats alone to keep their legacies intact.
Shaquille O’Neal’s words may not be enough to calm things down
The allegations are impacting the entire world irreversibly. As a result, it has drawn the attention of celebrities from different walks of life. The broadcaster, Joe Budden, has become the latest inclusion to this list with his recent comments on the show, Ain’t No Neutral.
The 43-year-old claimed that the NBA used Michael Jordan to increase its global visibility. To achieve this, the league took unprecedented measures, some of which remain questionable to this day. Elaborating on this stance, Budden mentioned,
“I kept telling y’all, Michael Jordan is just one of the greatest marketing machine tricks to ever live. Y’all didn’t think that the league was doing some bullsh*t for Michael Jordan?… They moved the three-point line five feet up for him…Reggie Miller was tight. They did expansion teams for that n***a, made teams weak, but this story speaks to stat padding”.
So, the situation looks unlikely to return to its past self. However, the heated arguments may diminish over time. Until then, Jordan can only hope for a reversal of the flow against him.
