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Shaquille O’Neal Explains Why His Los Angeles Lakers Would Easily Beat Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls
Shaquille O’Neal is known to have a great sense of pride when it comes to winning. In many instances, he has the tendency to prove that he’s heads and shoulders above anyone – mentioning his four rings to supplement his comments. Now that Shaq is an NBA analyst, he has been more vocal about his basketball takes and answering controversial questions.
That was exactly the case when he made an appearance on ESPN. Joining Ariel Helwani, Shaq was asked some interesting questions, and he didn’t hold back from answering. When asked if the three-peat Los Angeles Lakers had the chance to beat Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in both teams’ primes, Shaq’s answer was simple.
“Of course. Yes. Easily.”
.@arielhelwani asks @SHAQ if the three-peat Lakers would beat MJ’s Bulls in both team's primes.
Shaq: "Of course. Yes. Easily." pic.twitter.com/w5DL2hGGRT
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 16, 2020
Shaq had no second thoughts about the question and also explained that his Laker would have the upper hand because of his superiority at the center position.
During his tenure with the Orlando Magic, as a young player, Shaq dominated the Bulls in their first playoff meeting in the 1995 NBA playoffs. He averaged 24.3 points and 13.2 rebounds per game to which Longley, Wennington and Cartwright had no answer – leading to a Magic series victory.
“I would have killed Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, Cartwright, yea,” O’Neal said
Although Shaq dominated the long list of Chicago centers, the outcome of the series was different the next year in the 1996 playoffs where the Bulls had a huge defensive and rebounding boost from Dennis Rodman who averaged 16 rebounds a game to help the Bulls sustain their presence inside the paint.
Besides the personnel, one factor would’ve been the coaching. Since Phil Jackson coached both teams, Ariel Helwani stated that Phil Jackson would be coaching the Bulls since he started first there.
Knowing Phil, Shaq acknowledged that his former Laker coach would’ve tried hacking him. He didn’t shy away from citing that it would have been the determining factor of the game.
“So he (Phil Jackson) would’ve tried the hack-a-Shaq thing,” O’Neal responded. “I still would average like 28, 29, but the key would’ve been free throws. With me, it’s always 50-50. If I would’ve been on, we win. If I would’ve been off, we lose.”
It is an interesting debate. Surely neither team would’ve gone down so easily.
