Shaquille O'Neal Says His Lakers Would've Laid Out Stephen Curry
Shaquille O'Neal thinks his Lakers would've easily stopped the Golden State Warriors.
O'Neal, who won three NBA championships alongside Kobe Bryant with the Lakers in 2000, 2001 and 2002, said the Warriors would've had a big problem against him.
"Who is gonna guard me on that team?' O'Neal asked on the Frank Caliendo Podcast.
Draymond Green's name was brought up. O'Neal immediately dismissed him as a threat.
"He gonna be in foul trouble the first two minutes, let's put it that way," O'Neal said.
The Warriors made it to The Finals five-straight seasons from 2015-2019, winning three NBA championships. They broke the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls regular season record in 2016, finishing 73-9.
But O'Neal thinks the Lakers could've easily stopped their high-powered offense led by two-time MVP Stephen Curry.
"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."
Apparently that was a literal strategy that the Lakers used.
"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 said.
O'Neal also recently told ESPN that his three-peat Lakers would've beaten the Chicago Bulls, who won six NBA championships in eight seasons behind Michael Jordan.
"I can strictly say I think we would've beaten them," O'Neal said.
After Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, O'Neal spoke at his public memorial at Staples Center on Feb. 24, calling their partnership one of the greatest in history.
"Not unlike another leadership duo, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, whose creative rivalry led to some of the greatest music of all time, Kobe and I pushed one another to play some of the greatest basketball of all time," O'Neal said. "And I am proud that no other team has accomplished what the three-peat Lakers have done since the Shaq and Kobe Lakers did it."
