One of the biggest stars in the NBA, the former player set aside modesty by including himself in the top 10 in the league’s history.
An eternal legend of the NBA, Shaquille O’Neal is still one of the most remembered American basketball players by sports enthusiasts.
The former center, now 52 years old, who retired in 2011, did not hesitate to name the 10 greatest players in the history of the world’s premier basketball league.
The star of the Los Angeles Lakers and other teams like Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, and others, considered himself deserving of being on the select list. After all, he is part of the Basketball Hall of Fame and has four NBA titles.
Shaquille O’Neal picked two teams
First, Shaq listed his top five players in the league’s history, including himself in the lineup.
“Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and me,” Shaquille O’Neal chose in an interview with the LA Times reproduced by BolaVip from Argentina, adding: “It’s not to disrespect Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.”
When defining a second team to face his ideal quintet, he ended up including Abdul-Jabbar as a sixth player. “Stephen Curry, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, Isiah Thomas, and Karl Malone,” Shaq opined.
The 2.16m giant acknowledged not being part of an all-time top 3 in basketball. Thus, he placed himself behind LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant.
“The greatest of all time, I would like to be in that conversation,” Shaq introduced. “When you talk about LeBron and Mike, it’s definitive, and you have to add Kobe.”
LeBron James’ top three
Referenced by Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James was also challenged to form his top 3 in NBA history.
Interestingly, the Los Angeles Lakers forward chose two players not mentioned by the former player. Besides Michael Jordan, James also cited Julius Erving (Dr. J) and Larry Bird.