Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O'Neal recently joined the set of FS1's “First Things First,” and The Big Diesel expressed his belief in LeBron James as the best player in the NBA.

Initially, Shaq discussed the play of Kawhi Leonard, who recently led the Toronto Raptors to their first championship in franchise history. Shaq says he admires Kawhi's quiet nature on the court, but he still feels that LeBron James is the best player in today's game:

“He plays the right way,” Shaq said of Leonard. “When a call doesn't go his way, he never makes a face. He never complains. He's not a guy who's very flamboyant. He's not gonna do a lot of things. He's got an old school/new school game — just one or two dribbles and he gets to his spot.

“I'd say he's probably top three,” Shaq added, referring to Leonard. “I don't like to say who's the best player — well, LeBron is the best player in the league, but (Kevin Durant) is a very close second. And then you have Kawhi.”

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For years, LeBron has been viewed as the best player in the NBA. This past season, however, The King suffered a groin injury, which forced him to miss 17 consecutive games. He managed to recover, but the Lakers were all but out of playoff contention. For the first time since 2004, the star from Akron wasn't a participant in the playoffs.

Although his season was hampered by the groin injury, James still managed to post some great statistical figures. The 34-year-old All-Star made 55 appearances with the Lakers last season, racking up averages of 27.4 points on 51.0 percent shooting from the field (33.9 percent from beyond the arc), 8.5 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 35.2 minutes per outing.

Hopefully, with the acquisition of Anthony Davis, James and the Lakers will be back in the hunt next season.