Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were quite the one-two punch. The two Hall-of-Famers led the Los Angeles Lakers to a dominant three-peat in the early 2000s before they had a falling out and went their separate ways.

Nevertheless, Shaq and Kobe had established themselves as without question one of the best twosomes in NBA history. However, Shaq has taken it one step further as he believes that he and Kobe are the top duo of all-time, and he put down the challenge to anyone to name any other duo that could beat them.

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When it comes to big man-perimeter player combinations, it’s hard to top Shaq and Kobe. Shaq is arguably the most dominant force in NBA history at his absolute peak. Meanwhile, Kobe is right up there with Michael Jordan and LeBron James in terms of do-it-all wings who can dominate opponents on both ends of the court.

The other famous Lakers duo of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson may have the best argument to challenge Shaq and Kobe. But for all of Magic’s gifts, Kobe is the superior scorer and defender and would give Magic all he could handle on both ends of the court.

Knowing Shaq, he likely won’t accept any other answer except him and Kobe even though he put it out there to the public. But even he did, he might not be wrong in insisting he and Kobe are, in fact, the best.