After all, he was stating the facts.
Just as Bill Simmons had anticipated, Shaq, in an interview after training ended the next day, was asked about his issue with Bill Simmons and spared no criticism in his response.
"These writers are so stupid, they've never played professional basketball, they might not even know how to play at all, yet they always pretend to be basketball experts. The '86 Celtics were great because they won the championship, which the '00 Hawks haven't done. And they wouldn't be able to, because the 2000 champions are the Los Angeles Lakers.
I'm going to win everything, MVP and the championship, I won't even leave out the AMVP! I'll make sure Roger gets nothing, and I'll have these writers rolled out of the industry!"
Bill Simmons's preemptive response was indeed very wise: We'll see.
Unfortunately for Shaq, just after he made his declaration, the Hawks lost to the Sacramento Kings led by Webber in a back-to-back game.
