The Golden State Warriors have made the NBA Finals in each of the last three seasons, winning two titles in the process. In the year they came up short against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Dubs still set the record for wins in a season at 73. Rather than stand pat, they added another superstar to the fold in Kevin Durant, becoming even more unstoppable.

Given this run and the current roster's composition, many pundits are stacking this Warriors squad up against some of the best teams in the history of the NBA. The conversation often starts between them and Michael Jordan's '96 Bulls, but Durant believes another historic group would be a bigger challenge for Golden State: the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers.

Here are his comments on the matter, which were made on a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast:

“That 16-1 team, that Lakers team would've been tough because (Shaquille O'Neal) was just big,” Durant explained. ” … That team was bigger, you needed some size to get them, but they were bigger and Kobe (Bryant) was in rare form.”

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After Bryant and O'Neal won their first championship together the year before, the 2000-01 Lakers waited until the postseason to crank their game up to another level, actually going 15-1 (the first round was a best-of-five series) to win back-to-back titles. Their only loss in the playoffs came in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, when Allen Iverson went off for 48 points to guide the Philadelphia 76ers to an overtime victory.

As Durant notes, the size of that Lakers team would pose serious matchup problems for the Warriors. They don't have anybody who could contain Shaq in the paint, and stopping Kobe at that time was nearly impossible.

Conversely, the Purple & Gold would've struggled to keep up with the Warriors' high-octane pace and ability to stretch the floor, which is like no team in NBA history. Forcing O'Neal to come out on the perimeter is a tactic Durant believes they'd have to use profusely.

“We would definitely put Shaq in a lot of pick-and-rolls. Make him guard Steph (Curry), me, Klay (Thompson) coming off pick-and-rolls. We would double him every time he got the ball and make him be a passer.”