Shaquille O’Neal weighed in on the G.O.A.T debate and what heft he lent his words.
The former Laker said he preferred Michael “Air” Jordan to LeBron James when asked who would win a hypothetical one-on-one match-up.
Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
His all-time favourite , however, was Dr. J aka Julius Erving.
LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers in action against the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center on April 2, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
O’Neal said:
“Mike. I think you have to go with a young Jordan every time.
It would be an interesting game. Young LeBron was more like (Lakers Hall of Famer) Magic Johnson. He was sort of like Magic with Jordan’s abilities. He liked to pass, and he liked to get it up.
But Mike was Mike. He was just special, like no one else. He always did things no one else could do, and things you couldn’t compare to anyone else. So he was special, and he’d win.”
He added:
“I’ve seen young Mike and young LeBron and I must say Dr. J is still my favourite player. A lot of people today don’t even mention his name but to me I still think he was the best. But these are questions that we’ll never know the answer to.”
And things got really interesting from thereon.
The big man went on to describe the comparison with a kung fu analogy.
“It’s a bit like if I met Bruce Lee in an alleyway. Who would win? You’ll never know. Some people say well Bruce would kick Shaq’s ass. Some people say well Shaq is two times bigger than Bruce Lee. It’s a good question, a good conversation. But we’ll never know.”
Way to go, champ.
It appears that all the training Shaq underwent with Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) star Nate Diaz has taught the hoopster some respect for jiu-jitsu and it’s Eastern variants.
What next? If his fellow players take up the sport, we can expect kung fu basketball pretty soon. Wouldn’t that be something?
Kung Fu Shaq, anybody?
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