The whole shut it down conversation that surrounds Duke hoops sensation Zion Williamson after his freak bad-shoe injury? Retired NBA superstar and “very quotatious” full-time opinion man Shaquille O’Neal says the shut it down thing is a non-starter. If the kid can play, he should play, says Shaq. Many believe that Williamson, the likely #1 pick in the 2019 NBA draft, has nothing more to prove and everything to lose if he injures himself again before his inevitable NBA career gets started. On the Big Podcast (snippet below) on PodcastOne, they asked Shaq directly: what if [Zion Williamson] decided to shut it down?
“I think it’d be dumb,” Shaq said. Isn’t there risk, Shaq was asked? “What do you mean risk?” What if the shoe explodes and he busts his ankle up?
Shaq: “Then he’s gotta sit out like everybody else.”
Shaq continues down the path of what it would mean for Williamson if he got injured, and Shaq thinks it’s not so bad. First of all, all rookie contracts are the same (basically) and he’ll get one whenever he comes out so what does it matter?
Shaq says he could go back to school and “if you can get a higher education, be a better basketball player, hang out with some friends? Do that. All that sitting down, stop it.”
Everyone is talking about @ZionW32 shutting it down but I don’t agree – the kid should play. From this week’s @Shaqcast on @PC1Sportsnet (full show here: pic.twitter.com/chhEpgLou6
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) March 6, 2019
