Shaquille O’Neal Has Odd Reason For Celtics To Break Up All-NBA Duo

It seems as though the debate about whether the Boston Celtics should break up Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will never end, as the duo’s disappointing Eastern Conference finals performance against the Miami Heat has NBA personalities making the argument once again.

The latest offender? Shaquille O’Neal.

In the latest episode “The Big Podcast,” O’Neal discussed the Celtics future after they were bounced from the postseason just one game shy of the NBA Finals. His main argument revolved around splitting Tatum and Brown, sighting an odd reason to do so.

“I don’t want five stars on my team,” O’Neal said. “I want a guy that I can go to every night, I want a guy that’s going to lead and I want three dogs — three others. I would prefer if they were specialists: one to be a shooter, one to be a rebounder, and one to be a fighter.”

That’s right, Shaq believes the Celtics need less stars.

It’s an odd point to make, especially when you look at the Celtics’ roster. Tatum is undoubtedly the top star, while Brown brings a second go-to scorer to stagger minutes with him while bringing a different kind of leadership quality. Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon each had elite shooting seasons, while Al Horford and Robert Williams III were rebounders and Marcus Smart, well… he’s about as big a fighter as the NBA has.

If there was a reason to split up the duo, it might come down to Brown’s eligibility for a supermax extension. Boston needs to make a decision on one of their higher paid players to open up space to make any additions to the salary cap. If the Celtics do choose to move on from Brown, it would come back to the money, not O’Neal’s argument that they have too many stars.