Jake Lucky, from Full Squad Gaming, asked Shaq this in a recent conversation (as seen below). Shaq not only said he believes pro Esports players are athletes, but he went into detail about this. He began by saying that athlete can mean different things, physically speaking, but pointing to his head said, “but athlete means here.” He discusses how much of a mental game sports are, with the physical aspect being a minor part of it.
He talked about Shaq Versus, a show in which he challenged other pro athletes at their preferred sport, and how discussed how painful racing against Dale Earnhardt and swimming against Michael Phelps was. Shaq's experience with Esports and sports cannot be understated, but when it comes to Esports, he said he “can’t do what [pro Esports players] do.”
Shaq said that he was proud of Esports players and commends them for what they do, and he even acknowledges the hardships of playing Esports competitively. He compared the average “shelf-life” of an Esports player, 5-6 years according to him, to the NFL or NBA due to not just physical burnout but mental ones too. There are several streamers who used to be competitive Esports players who wouldn’t do it again, for reasons similar to this.
As Esports become more acknowledged, it seems likely many will come to share Shaq’s opinion.
