NBA players now don’t fear LeBron James the way they did when Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan were playing, according to Shaquille O’Neal’s audacious remark. However, fans disagree, with some believing the NBA legend has “zero idea.”

On “The Big Podcast,” which is co-hosted by none other than “Shaq Daddy,” former Heat player Mario Chalmers—who won two rings with James in Miami—dished out his thoughts with O’Neal, an NBA TNT analyst and member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Players like myself have said things like, “I feared Mike [Jordan].”At first, O’Neal remarked, “I’ve heard players in [Chalmers’] generation say they feared Kobe.”

“I haven’t really heard any players claim that they are afraid of LeBron.”

James was referred to by O’Neal as a “nice guy” after Chalmers revealed that he had previously experienced criticism for sharing the same views as the former big man.

Shaquille O’Neal described LeBron James as a ‘nice guy’, suggesting players don not fear him

James prefers to be liked than to be feared due to criticism he’s faced throughout his career, claims former Heat teammate Mario Chalmers

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Shaq insists that players of his generation feared Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan more than today’s crop of hoopers fear James

‘I got killed for that,’ Chalmers said. ‘I didn’t think that players really feared LeBron, like they did Jordan.

‘I’ve never heard anybody say it,’ Shaq added before Chalmers clarified his take.

‘It’s not that players shouldn’t fear LeBron,’ Chalmers said, adding: ‘I just think… at the end of the day, ‘Bron has been through so much that he wanted to be liked.

‘So, it was kind of like… ”I’m going to do things now so that people like me, people respect me.” I mean [people are] always going to respect what [he] did but you’re actually going to like ‘Bron and want to be a fan of ‘Bron now. So I think that’s what that was…’

Chalmers won two rings with James during their time together on the Heat in the mid 2000’s

Fans, perplexed by the opinions of both past players and the Los Angeles Lakers star, cited James’s postseason record in the Eastern Conference while he was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers as proof that rival teams were reluctant to face the four-time NBA champion and his teammates.

A user on X (Twitter) said, “Just ask any player in the Eastern Conference in the 2010s that same question.”

Another person commented, “Raptors would like a word with Shaq,” alluding to James’ career 12-2 postseason record against Toronto.

“Lebron was definitely feared in the East during his prime, stop it,” another user commented.