Shaq unimpressed by Team USA's Paris Olympics showing

When the Dream Team annihilated opponents by an average margin of 44 points at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, only 22 active/former NBA players were on non-Team USA squads.

When the Paris Olympics-bound Team USA defeated teams by an average margin of 19 points , as many as 69 active/former NBA players represented 11 countries.

Even a six-year-old kid could discern that the latter dealt with more competition — including a three-time reigning NBA MVP and future MVP — and, therefore, had a more challenging path to gold.

Yet, Shaquille O'Neal was least impressed by the exploits of LeBron James and Co. in Paris, mainly because he disagrees that "the world is getting close" to catching Team USA's might in basketball.

"I have a dominant personality," O'Neal told "The Big Podcast" recently. "I don't care who you are. My cousin Kenny just had this argument upstairs. He said, 'The world is getting close' but I don't think it is. The fact that they [Team USA] went 97-95 [in the semifinal], you only beat South Sudan by one. Come on, bro. That's never supposed to happen."

In fairness to Steve Kerr's team, the one-point win over South Sudan was an exhibition affair — they beat the African nation by 17 in the Olympic tournament. Also, the semifinal game against Nikola Jokic's Serbia saw Team USA script a tremendous comeback to win a nail-biter against a seasoned team.

And in the gold-medal tie, they had to contend with rising superstar Victor Wembanyama — a caliber of player none of the previous iterations of Team USA ever faced at an Olympic games.

Regardless of Shaq's stance, it can't be denied that if the world hasn't "caught up" yet, it's getting close.

O'Neal won his only Olympic gold medal as part of "Dream Team III" at the 1996 Atlanta Games.