Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O'Neal had the pleasure of playing with numerous superstars during his illustrious NBA career, from Penny Hardaway to Kobe Bryant to Dwyane Wade to LeBron James. Shaq was recently interviewed by Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson for Heavy.com and got asked about how some of these stars compare to each other.
Shaq was initially hesitant to make comparisons because things could get “personal,” but the former Lakers center ultimately gave in and tried his best to give everybody some shine. This included saying LeBron is like a combination of Kobe and Michael Jordan:
“However, Penny was a young Magic Johnson and I was a young Kareem. Kobe was a young Michael Jordan before he became Michael Jordan. And LeBron is both of them combined. And D-Wade was Kobe when he was coming into his own. I’ll just put it like that.”
It's an interesting comparison to make for LeBron, but it's not hard to see why Shaq mentioned that during the interview. James is an unstoppable force on both sides of the floor. The Lakers star is a superb scorer who has hit a ton of clutch shots in his career, but he's also not shy to make the perfect pass to his teammates when the situation calls for it. Moreover, his defense remains elite when he's putting in full effort, which we've seen more of this season.
LeBron is still killing it at age 35, averaging 25.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 10.6 assists a game. With the season currently suspended, the Lakers' quest for a 17th championship has been put to a halt. Many think LeBron and the Lakers are the favorite to win that 17th Lakers title if the season resumes. It would be James' fourth championship of his career, which would put him one behind Kobe and two behind Jordan.
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