Shaq, Charles Barkley have strong words for Paul George

Unless the Los Angeles Clippers can win on the road in Game 6 of their series against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night, their season will end.

Ahead of the game, Clippers star Paul George made some comments that it’s safe to say didn’t quite sit well with Inside the NBA analysts Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.

Inside the NBA aired parts of interviews from players on both the Mavericks and Clippers, finishing with George.

“I think the beauty of it is, the older I get, the less pressure it’s been, honestly.” George said. “You work your tail off all summer. You train for these moments. To where, if you fail, you fail. Live with the results.”

That did not sit well with the two Hall of Famers.

“Nope. I ain’t going with that,” responded O’Neal.

“I’m with you, Shaq,” Barkley said.

Both men elaborated, trying to differentiate between failing and simply losing. O’Neal cited the Philadelphia 76ers, who just had their season ended at the hands of the New York Knicks, as a team that just lost.

“If you fail — you can’t fail,” O’Neal said. “Like, for example, the way Philly played — even though they fell — if you play hard, and play with a lot of effort, that’s not a failure. You played hard. But if you go out there and get 15 points, when you’re 2-for-15, nah, I ain’t living with that. Nah. That’s not failing. That’s worse than failing; that’s not stepping up when you’re supposed to be the superstar of the team.”

Shaq was likely referencing the Game 5 performances of George and James Harden, who both had poor showings. Paul finished with a double-double, scoring 15 points and getting 10 rebounds. But he shot only 4-for-13 from the field. Harden was worse , going 2-for-12 from the field and scoring only seven points.

“I always tell people, you can lose, but you’ve got to compete,” Barkley said. “You gotta compete. I can honestly say, and I’m not an old, ‘get off my lawn’ guy, I never quit. I didn’t ever quit. And I’m not saying he quit. But I can look myself in the mirror and say I didn’t ever quit on one of my teams. And I’ve lost and lost and lost. But I didn’t ever quit.”

O’Neal closed out the discussion by pointing out that the best players are the ones who need to step up in the biggest spots.

“When you’re that guy, you get all the money, you get all the praise, you’re expected to step up. And you should expect from yourself, ‘I’m going to step up.’ In a close-out game, bring it to me, follow me, I’m gonna do what I need to do. Kenny, when I kick it out, I’m gonna need you to get yourself going.”

[Photo Credit: TNT]

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