Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal lists greatest NBA players by height, leaves out Michael Jordan and LeBron James

Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal disrespects a lot of greats in the game of Basketball with his list of best NBA players by height.

The NBA has been around for 75 years, and in that time we have had quite a few great players. Each era of the NBA had a few key players that stood out. It is very hard to compare different players who played in different eras, just because of differences in circumstances. Yet, people love to make such comparisons and take hypotheticals.

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Shaquille O’Neal is never one to shy away from controversy, serious or otherwise. In this segment we present to you one of his most damning moments as a basketball critic and primetime TV analyst.

Shaquille O’Neal leaves MJ, LeBron off his list

In a recent Instagram post, Shaq posted his list of greatest players by their height. His list came as a shock to quite a lot of people as he left out the names of the two players who are constantly debated as the GOAT.

 

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First, at 6’6, which is Michael Jordan’s height, Shaq’s list had Kobe Bryant. While Kobe Bryant was a legendary player himself, one cannot simply call him better than Michael ‘His Airness’ Jordan. Kobe Bryant himself said his idol was MJ and he learnt a lot from him.

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Secondly, at 6’8, which is LeBron James’ height, Shaq’s list had Tracy McGrady. McGrady had a wonderful career, but the 7x All-Star cannot be compared with the King himself. LeBron James surpasses McGrady on every stat.

Apart from these two, Shaq’s list also misses out on a lot of other greats as well, including Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Larry Bird.

This list sounds confusing as earlier this year Shaq had called LeBron the greatest small forward in the history of the game. In all probability, somebody just made the list as a joke and Shaq found it funny enough to share it here.