Shaquille O'Neal
Shaq O’Neal claimed that a trio of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and himself would sweep Bird, Jordan and Olajuwon
O’Neal continues to be a regular contributor to NBA television as a member of the Inside the NBA team. Shaq has chosen Kobe Bryant, a three-peat champion, and LeBron James, a former Cavaliers colleague, to face off against Michael Jordan, The Dream, and Larry Legend. There can only be one victor in this contest, in O’Neal’s opinion.
The most dominant basketball player who is not named Wilt Chamberlain is Shaquille O’Neal. The four-time NBA champion was a great entertainer and one of the league’s faces at his peak.
While Shaq continued to play MJ and Hakeem and suffered significant postseason defeats against both of them, Kobe and LeBron never actually squared off against the other trio at the peak of their careers. It could seem like a “sweep” would be an overly optimistic prediction in light of that.
Shaq’s regular-season record is quite favourable, especially when compared to Hakeem. A closer look, though, reveals an entirely different picture. O’Neal’s play-off performances were overshadowed by Hakeem’s magnificence. If ever there were evidence of supremacy, it would be an average of a 5-3 record and a 32.8 points per game.
On the other side, Shaq and MJ only squared off 11 times, with MJ having a slight lead. But Jordan has had a 64-point win over O’Neal.
The Big Diesel is talking big when he says that he lost to the duo and went down, but he later claims a victory over his competitors. What else would one expect from Shaquille O’Neal, though? To resolve this argument, however, we are also left with little more than speculation. Olajuwon “schooled” O’Neal throughout their clashes, as a number of remarks appear to remind O’Neal, but The Big Diesel isn’t one to run in fear.