After proclaiming how easily he'll dominate Draymond Green had they matched up during the day, NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal also bared how his 2000's Los Angeles Lakers team could have handled the Golden State Warriors' sharp-shooting superstar Stephen Curry.
The retired 7-foot-1 center, who now works as an analyst for TNT, shared a hypothetical scenario where his team could have stifled the two-time MVP's offensive prowess.
Shaq shared it in detail on Thursday, per Melissa Rohlin of Sports Illustrated.
“We would've let them come off the pick-and-roll and we would've trapped Stephen Curry and made someone else shoot,” O'Neal said. “If that didn't work, we would've let Stephen Curry drive to the basket and I would've laid his little ass out a couple of times. Period.”
O'Neal furthered that his team employed a similar method in the past, which proved rather effective during their three-peat from 2000-2002.
“When we had problems with guards, I'd tell Kobe, ‘Let them drive. I got it. And I'd touch their ass up,'” O'Neal added.
The whole Warriors versus Lakers debate, meanwhile, was sparked by Green's earlier comments on how they'll beat the legendary Shaq and Kobe duo. According to the former Defensive Player of the Year, the Dubs stars will beat that Laker squad through a series of pick-and-rolls between himself and Curry.
The outspoken O'Neal, of course, is not one to back down and quickly fired back on Green's cheeky statement. In hindsight, it's not hard to side with O'Neal on this one considering himself and the late Bryant had the size advantage over Green and Curry.
We've seen Curry struggle against bigger and more athletic defenders in the past, and Bryant was no slouch on that end of the floor. Shaq, on the other hand, has a good five inches over Green and we all know how it ends when he posts people up.
In Shaq's own words, it would have been “barbeque chicken alert” all day.
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