Shaquille O’Neal Says Media Treatment of LeBron James Is Not Unfair, Says ‘It Happens to Everybody’

Shaquille O'Neal is already warming up his commentator's voice.

As the newest member of Turner Sports' Inside the NBA, the recently retired Shaq will have to dish out his opinion on his former peers (and teammates) way more than he ever had to dish out passes during his playing days.

That does not appear to be a problem for the big man.

In a podcast interview with Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch, O'Neal shared his thoughts on the media's treatment of LeBron James.

"I would not characterize it as unfair because like I said, it happened to everyone," he said. "It happened to [Michael] Jordan when he went to Atlantic City to get away from the game. It happened to [Charles] Barkley. It happened to [Dennis] Rodman. It happened to Magic [Johnson]. It happens to everybody. If it just started this year I would call it unfair, but I've been in the game for 20 years and I've seen similar stories."

Looks like Shaq won't be giving his former teammate any (big) shoulder to lean on any time soon.