"Motherf**kers just throwing people in now" - Shaquille O'Neal downplays Jayson Tatum's Hall of Fame case citing Isiah Thomas’ HOF standards

Former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal shut down the conversation about Jayson Tatum's Hall of Fame status. During the Thursday episode of O'Neal's show, "The Big Podcast," the case of Tatum's argument regarding his place in basketball immortality was discussed.

Shaq's co-host, Adam Lefkoe, argued that the Boston Celtics star has accomplished a lot at a young age and could be in the Hall of Fame.

Tatum is only 27 but has collected a handful of awards under his name. The Celtics forward is a six-time All-Star, a five-time All-NBA, an Eastern Conference finals MVP, an NBA champion, and a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

However, O'Neal doesn't believe Tatum's name should be in the discussion yet while bringing up Detroit Pistons great Isiah Thomas' Hall of Fame tiers.

"Motherf***kers just throwing people in there now," O'Neal said.

"Isiah Thomas said it the best one day. He said there's two Hall of Fames. There's a bad motherf**ker Hall of Fame, and there's a Basketball Hall of Fame. So, which Hall of Fame is he in?"

Lefkoe tried to argue about Tatum, but Shaquille O'Neal disagreed with him. Then, the sportscaster asked the four-time champion to mention players who belong in the "bad motherf**ker Hall of Fame" category, aside from LeBron James.

O'Neal brought up stars like Steph Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic.

A former NBA player explained his Jayson Tatum take to Shaquille O'Neal

In Shaquille O'Neal's new podcast episode published on Thursday, he welcomed former NBA player Brandon Jennings as his guest. Jennings caught a lot of attention last season for his take on Tatum, whom he called the "softest" superstar in franchise history.

O'Neal gave the former Milwaukee Bucks star a chance to explain his take on the star forward.

"I guess I'm going off because of Jaylen Brown getting Finals MVP and this is supposed to be your team and your moment," Jennings said (32:18). "That's just like if you went to the Finals and if Kobe [Bryant] would've got Finals MVP."

Jennings never claimed Tatum wasn't a fantastic player, he told Shaq. But he thinks he's a "soft" player in comparison to the Celtics' great players of the past. For the same reason, he does not rank the 6-foot-8 forward among the top five players in the organization's history.

However, he said that Tatum could become one of the best players for the Celtics when it's all said and done.