Shaq defends LeBron James' free agency decision: 'It's not ring chasing'

LeBron James' impending free agency decision has brought every possible opinion imaginable on social media. While everyone has their thoughts on the best fit for James, or opinions on where he'll ultimately land, one of the more interesting takes came from NBA legend and current NBA on Prime analyst Shaquille O'Neal. However, what made his take so interesting was that it addressed LeBron's decision and his legacy.

During a conversation with Sports Illustrated, Shaq explained that what James is doing isn't "ring chasing" but "defining your legacy."

"I’m sure he wants to go somewhere where he has a really good chance of winning," O'Neal said. "A lot of people call it ring chasing. It’s not ring chasing. It’s just defining your legacy. He did it the right way."

Want more content from FTW? Sign up for The Morning Win here to get the day's top stories!

O'Neal made similar comments while speaking with Extra and also offered his opinion on where James should go play, but pretty much left the door open in the process.

"Knowing LeBron, he’s going to go somewhere he can win another ring. Miami, Golden State, maybe even Philly," O'Neal said. "What we realize toward the ends of our careers, once we’re done, we can never play again. You never want to retire and say, 'I should have did this, I should have done that.' He still has two, three years [left], I think."

Credit to Shaq for his evaluation of the situation, and basically looking at it from a player's perspective, which is rare to find across the broad range of takes on social media. As a player who's won four titles in his own career, O'Neal finished his career playing for the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics over the final three-and-a-half years.

Now, we just wait to play the wait-and-see game on where James decides to go, but it remains anyone's guess.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Shaq defends LeBron James' free agency decision: 'It's not ring chasing'