The Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry-led Golden State Warriors are regarded as one of the greatest teams in NBA history, but Shaquille O’Neal thinks they’d be no match for some of his squads. Comedian Aries Spears was the latest guest on The Big Podcast with Shaq, and he wanted to know O’Neal’s opinion on how the Warriors would fare against some notable teams from history.
Spears believes the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who went 72-10, would beat the Warriors, and O’Neal agreed. Those Bulls were, of course, led by Michael Jordan, and he had Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman by his side. It’s hardly controversial to say they’d come out on top.
Spears then said the O’Neal and Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakers would beat the Warriors, and the Hall of Famer made it clear it wouldn’t even be close.
“We’d sweep them,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal has said in the past as well that the 2001 Lakers would beat the 2017 Warriors. He was reacting at the time to Curry saying Golden State would come out on top. O’Neal was confident it would be the Lakers, and that confidence only appears to have grown over time.
Spears next brought up the Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale-led Boston Celtics as another team that would beat the Warriors, but this was where there was a disagreement. O’Neal explains why the Lakers would win, but the Celtics wouldn’t.
“What will get me and Kobe over the top is athletic ability,” O’Neal said. “Bird and McHale, they were stiff with it. It was still a great player, but they were too stiff with it. See, I got a little, and Kobe had it all.”
Up to this point, Spears had mentioned teams that had won multiple titles and had stretches of complete domination over the NBA. The last team he brought up, though, never won anything. Spears thinks the O’Neal and Penny Hardaway-led Orlando Magic would take down the Warriors, and there was no disagreement on that.
“Easily,” O’Neal said.
Now this is a bit surprising. Then again, O’Neal has never been accused of lacking confidence, so maybe it shouldn’t be.
The Magic’s best seasons with O’Neal and Hardaway were 1994-95 and 1995-96. In the first one, they went 57-25 and got swept by the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals. In the second, they went 60-22 and got swept by the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Those Magic teams were undoubtedly very good. You had two stars in O’Neal and Hardaway, surrounded by quality pieces in Horace Grant, Dennis Scott, and Nick Anderson. Grant made the All-Defensive Second Team in both seasons, while Scott was one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA.
It’s no surprise that those Magic teams made deep playoff runs, but they don’t belong in the same breath as these other teams. Those Warriors, who won NBA titles in 2017 and 2018, would definitely blow them away.
They had two MVP winners in Curry and Durant, one of the best defenders in the NBA in Draymond Green, and one of the greatest shooters in NBA history in Klay Thompson. O’Neal’s greatness might get the Magic a win or two in a seven-game series, but that’s about it.
