Commissioner Adam Silver came to the NBA’s defense in the wake of Shaquille O’Neal’s claim that the league is boring.

Last week, O’Neal addressed the NBA’s declining viewership by blaming Steph Curry and a growing reliance on the 3-point shot from teams around the league for making the sport “boring.”

“It’s down because we’re looking at the same thing,” O’Neal said of NBA viewership. “Everybody is running the same plays…Steph Curry and those guys messed it up. I don’t mind Golden State back in the day shooting threes, but every team isn’t a 3-point shooter. So why everybody has the same strategy? I think it makes the game boring.”

According to Deadline, Silver was asked about Shaq’s claim this week during an appearance at the Paley Center for Media’s International Council Summit. And while everyone knew Silver wouldn’t publicly shame his league by agreeing with Shaq, they may not have expected Silver to playfully shame him either.

“There’s so much diversity in Shaq’s game, I can’t believe he said that,” Silver joked. Obviously, Shaq, while dominant, wasn’t known for having much offensive range. You can probably count on one hand the number of times O’Neal made a shot from more than 15 feet out.

“I respect his opinion,” Silver continued. “I think that we pay a lot of attention to what we see in our game. Sometimes, there’s more appreciation for a 12-foot jump shot than a 30-foot jump shot. When Shaq played, it was the exact opposite, with critics complaining, ‘There’s not enough variation in your game – it’s all about dunking.’”

The NBA resisted raising the rim as the league morphed into an era focused on dunking. Most likely, the NBA will similarly resist pushing the 3-point line back to combat teams making that shot the focus of their offensive game plan.

“Today, people say it’s all about these highly skilled shooters,” Silver said. “We’ve moved the 3-point line before back a little to make 3-point shooting more difficult. We could do that again. I’m not saying that’s on the table. This is a good opportunity this season, as we’re about to enter into three 11-year television deals, to step back and study the game a bit. Our game has never been more popular.”

Social media attention and more importantly, a new TV contract that represents an increase of 160% per season compared to their current deal will support Silver’s claim that the NBA is more popular than ever. But declining TV viewership and more people complaining about the 3-point shot will support Shaq’s claim that the NBA is becoming boring.

[Deadline]