In 2015, Shaquille O’Neal stirred the pot when he claimed that the Los Angeles Lakers would beat the Chicago Bulls in a game between the two franchises’ all-time best teams. Not only did Big Diesel say that, but he also declared that it would be a mismatch, with the Lakers winning the game by 50 points.
Of course, O’Neal was exaggerating the winning margin, but without a doubt, he meant it when he said that the Lakers would win. Scottie Pippen disagreed and ended up engaging Shaq in an Instagram war of words.
ESPN brought up the topic to Michael Jordan, and expectedly, he sided with Pippen. However, he felt like Shaq was merely starting a mythical debate.
“I just felt like he was just talking,” said Jordan. “It’s a debate. The thing is that we would never know…I think we would have killed them. He thinks they would have killed us. You guys decide. It’s just a debate.”
A mythical debate
These debates are common in the NBA. There are the individual ones, like the GOAT debate. Then, others compare championship teams from different eras. This one was different because it was about the best five in the franchise history.
With their storied history, more all-time greats donned the Lakers jersey than the Bulls. When Shaq made his argument, The Diesel threw in an all-time five of himself, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Elgin Baylor, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. O’Neal could have even thrown in the likes of Jerry West or Wilt Chamberlain and could still have had the better 5.
According to O’Neal, his five would beat an all-time Chicago team composed of Jordan, Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Horace Grant, and Derrick Rose. You can also make a case for the likes of Artis Gilmore, Bob Love, and Jerry Sloan.
Pippen flexed his rings to Shaq
Looking at both lineups, it looked clear that the Lakers had the more prominent stars. But you can’t blame Pippen for disagreeing. No Hall of Famer would take another team over his team. However, Pip flexed his rings to Shaq and told the Big Fella that he won only half of their accomplishments in Chicago.
But while Scottie was spot-on with his ring tally, he did not get Shaq’s argument because O’Neal wasn’t just talking about his Lakers team; he was talking about everybody from the Lakers versus everyone from the Bulls, and interestingly, it does look like a mismatch, at least on paper.
There’s no question that the Bulls dominated the 90s in a manner only the 60s Celtics did better. But they’ve had little success in any other decade. Meanwhile, the Lakers are arguably the best franchise in NBA history, winning titles in different eras with different all-time greats. Between Shaq’s 50-point win prediction and Jordan saying the Bulls would kill the Lakers, O’Neal’s statement is more believable.
