Shaq Compared Wemby to Bol Bol, Which May Go Down as One of the Worst Takes Ever

Victor Wembanyama scored 38 points and grabbed 10 rebounds on Thursday night as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns for the second time in a week, 132-121. We are just a few days into his NBA career and Wemby looks like everything that was promised. And it makes what Shaquille O’Neal said on TNT earlier this week look absolutely insane.

“Bol Bol is the first 7-foot-4 guy that we’ve seen come out with the handles, shoot the three’s, yes. Ya’ll acting like ya’ll ain’t never seen a guy like that before. Bol Bol is the first guy.”

Even if Shaq was just trying to articulate that Bol Bol and Wembanyama are the same size, this is automatically one of the worst hot takes we’ve ever seen. And it’s not like Tim Hardaway didn’t say something similar over the summer and get a similar reaction with zero sample size to work with.

Bol Bol has appeared in one game this season for four minutes. He recorded DNP-CD’s both games against Wembanyama this week. Last year, in his fourth season in the league, he averaged a career-high 9.1 points per game for the Orlando Magic and make 26.5% on 1.6 three-pointer attempts per game.

This was bad and embarrassing when he said it. Just a few days later, it’s unthinkably bad. This is the kind of clip that will follow someone around for the rest of his life. Shaquille O’Neal is one of the best players of all-time. He was one of the greatest physical freaks in any sport ever. The strength, power and athleticism he possessed at his size was insane. And twenty years from now all anyone will remember about him is that he was a prolific businessman who somehow got on television and compared Victor Wembanyama to Bol Bol.

A bit of an exaggeration? Maybe, but I bet what I just doesn’t look nearly as silly as comparing Wembanyama to Bol as we move forward. And a similar fate awaits anyone who underwhelmed by Wembanyama going forward.