Ryan Hollins has made a whole lot of controversial statements as an analyst on ESPN, but on Tuesday morning, he said some things that set Shaquille O'Neal off, particularly about the Golden State Warriors.
Not only did he say that LeBron James was better than Michael Jordan, but he also said that the Warriors would beat Jordan's Bulls, and O'Neal was having none of it:
"Whoever’s paying him to say all this stuff, I will pay you double to stop it”
—@SHAQ is not here for @TheRyanHollins saying the Warriors would beat MJ's Bulls pic.twitter.com/0HxSoT3tJU
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 18, 2019
While Hollins using James' assist totals to say he is better than Jordan is absolutely ridiculous and saying that the Kevin Durant-led Warriors would have “run laps” around the '90s Bulls is flat out wrong, Warriors-Bulls is at least debatable enough to merit a discussion.
Yes, Chicago had the greatest player of all-time in Jordan and great supporting pieces such as Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, but a Golden State team led by Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green would be difficult to beat.
Let's remember just how dominant the Warriors were in the playoffs back in 2017, when they steamrolled everybody on their way to a title and won 67 games during the regular season.
At the very least, Golden State would have been a tough matchup for the Bulls, as the Dubs certainly would have more offensive weapons than Chicago.
But, on the other hand, Shaq makes the point that eras definitely need to be mentioned when discussing which team would win. If the series were played in the '90s when defenses were allowed to be more physical, Chicago would probably romp. But if the series were played in this day and age, the Warriors might be too much.
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