Shaquille O’Neal’s complaint about LeBron James making $250 million draws criticism from Michael Jordan’s teammate

ByHassan Khan August 25, 2022July 27, 2025

Shaquille O’Neal is no stranger to expressing his opinion, even if it’s about his former teammate LeBron James’ whopping $250 million salary!

Shaquille O’Neal is no stranger to controversy. Throughout his life and career, he has never shied away from making controversial statements. Whether it’s defending the poor, criticizing the best players or just criticizing Charles Barkley, he’s done it all.

So when he spoke viciously about LeBron James, he prompted some response from the NBA fraternity. Shaq came out and said that since LeBron has made over $250 million in his career, he shouldn’t complain about playing 2 hours.

While he may have merit in criticizing him, former NBA player and teammate John Salley analyzed the failings of his criticism exquisitely.

Exclusive: John Salley on Shaq Saying LeBron Makes $200M & Shouldn't Complain https://t.co/Nm3ClSkwQH Via @vladtv pic.twitter.com/aw4lN9VsyK

— #SuperWetCustomz ⛽️ (@SuperWetCustomz) July 6, 2021

John Salley talks about why sound bites fuel careers in media, including those of Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James

John Salley, in case you didn’t know, played on the best teams of the ’90s, literally. The Bad Boy Piston, Michael Jordan’s 72-10 Bulls and Shaq and Kobe’s Lakers, Salley played on all of these teams. The result? He has four championships to his name.

So when he heard Shaq’s comments, he spoke up. According to John, it makes sense for Shaq to say these things on television due to the nature of the media.

Anything he says can be taken out of context, but the byproduct is that Shaq’s statements become sound bites that can help boost his stature. Any publicity is good publicity, they say.

Shaq Fact: He loaned John Salley $70k when Salley was broke and never asked for any of it back.

Shaq is a giving dude without doing it for some dumb viral video, and that shouldn't be forgotten when judging him over stupid Inside the NBA clips y'all take too seriously.

— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) December 19, 2021

Salley adds his opinion, saying that Shaq shouldn’t mention the money because then we tend to judge the player based on his value instead of his merit. That does not justify what he has done and instead he points a finger at the money he has been paid.

We agree with John on this matter. Shaq’s comments, while critical, came from a good place and a lack of insight. Not that this makes him a bad person, in fact, O’Neal helped Salley when he was broke.