Few NBA legends are in as strong a position to adjudicate a Michael Jordan-versus-LeBron James debate as Shaquille O'Neal.
O'Neal, one of the greatest players in history in his own right, played against Jordan in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals and the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals. He was a teammate of James on the 2010 Cavaliers in his next-to-last NBA season.
On his podcast with Nischelle Turner and Spice Adams, O'Neal used his expertise to weigh in one of sports fans' favorite barstool debates, gently rebuking Warriors forward Draymond Green, who backs LeBron in the debate, in the process.
“I like Draymond, that’s his opinion,” O’Neal said of Green, who has repeatedly endorsed his longtime rival as the best in basketball history. “I like people when they have opinions in this world. You know, the problem we have is when some certain person has an opinion and you don’t like it.”
O'Neal went on to offer two alternatives to James, who the legendary center went on to praise as the best of his era.
“I’m not going to go off,” he said. “That’s [Draymond’s] opinion. My guy is Dr. J [Julius Erving] slash Mike. That’s my guy.”
In a video for Uninterrupted, Green ranked James, Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry and O’Neal as the five greatest players in NBA history.
“When you look at the teams that ‘Bron has carried to the championship, or carried to the Finals, MJ didn’t beat the greatest team ever assembled, nor did he run up against the greatest team ever assembled every year,” Green said.
Green and O'Neal have traded words in the past. In May 2020, Green suggested Golden State's pick-and-roll would've posed problems for O'Neal's Lakers; O'Neal responded on his podcast by saying he "would've torn [Green's] a-- up on the block."
