By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s speech about failure and success after elimination in the first round of the NBA playoffs to an eight-seeded Miami Heat is still echoing in the world of sports.
Legendary football coach Carlo Ancelotti praised the Milwaukee Bucks’ star, but not everyone agrees with Giannis that dropping out in the first round isn’t a failure. One of them is Shaquille O’Neal.
“When you’re touted as the best, you’re expected to win; if you don’t, it’s a failure. It’s not bad. I’m not a failure as a player, but I failed the city and the team and failed to reach my accomplishments. Period. Point blank“, the four-time NBA champion and one of the best centers of all time, said in The Big Podcast with Shaq.
Former NBA star, who obviously knows a thing or two about success, emphasized that the Milwaukee Bucks and Antetokounmpo failed this season.
“So, he won two years ago, and we all know when you win, what do they expect you to do? Go back-to-back. Win again. They lost in the second round, ok, but they came back with a vengeance. You are the number one seed there is. And then you lost to an eighth seed. You can’t lose to no eighth seed and say it’s not a failure. It’s a failure,” Shaq added.
Still, O’Neal doesn’t see it as a bad thing and assures that the greatest athletes use failure as motivation.
“The problem is when you hear the word failure, there’s so much negativity in the world, people go to the bottom. But you need to realize that the greatest of us have failed. The great ones relish failure in this business of sports,” Shaquille O’Neal concluded.