Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry was recently on NBC Sports Bay Area’s “Dubs Talk” and was asked which NBA legends he wishes he could’ve shared the court with. The two-time NBA MVP named three Hall of Famers and explained why he wanted to play alongside them.
“My top three, obviously [Michael] Jordan, [Shaquille O’Neal], and I’d probably say Hakeem Olajuwon,” Curry said. “I’d like to play with all three of those guys because I think with Jordan, we all just want to see it up close and personal. And then I think pick-and-roll with me and Hakeem or me and Shaq would be pretty much unstoppable.”
Steph would rather be Shaq than MJ
Curry was then asked to pick between the high-flying moves of Michael Jordan and the dominant game of Shaquille O’Neal. Although he paused before answering the question, Curry enthusiastically said that he’d prefer to have Shaq’s brute strength over MJ’s moves.
“Probably physically dominating,” Curry replied. “It’s just such the opposite of my experience on the court.”
The greatest shooter of all time has only dunked the ball 26 times throughout his NBA career. Meanwhile, very few could throw the ball down like O’Neal casually did. In a hypothetical scenario, that’s one skill Steph would love to have.
“I’ve dunked a couple of times, but I like to have somebody like, (Curry smacks his right hand down to his left); they call it ‘Mouse in the House,’ and you can just post up and understand as soon as I catch it, this guy behind me has no chance. That’d be an out-of-body experience, for sure. So I’ve seen the Shaq highlights; I want to break some backboards every once in a while. That’d be fun,” Steph concluded.
Shaq chose to pair with Steph
Interestingly, Shaq also wants to play with Steph Curry. Last August, “The Diesel” went to Instagram and posted an image with him, Steph, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Durant. The image was captioned, “Which of these six would make the best duo possible?” with O’Neal himself saying he and Steph would be the greatest duo ever.
“I’m picking my favorite player, Stephen Curry, and we ain’t losing to nobody, EVER!” O’Neal wrote on the IG post.
Shaq’s dominant inside presence would complement Steph’s impeccable outside shooting, which would make them a perfect duo. The best ever? That’s on every fan to decide for themselves.