Old is gold. That’s the thought Shaquille O’Neal probably had in his head when answering questions about LeBron James’ greatness recently. The King, now 40 years old, is approaching his 23rd season in the league and, even today, is better than the vast majority of stars.
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O’Neal was asked about players better than James in a recent episode of Overtime. They gave the Los Angeles Lakers legend a tiny stick and asked him to break it any time they mentioned a player who, in his opinion, was above James. The Hall of Famer didn’t even flinch when he was read the first batch of names, which included LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Shaq also left the stick unbroken through even more prominent names like Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and LeBron’s Lakers teammate, Luka Doncic. That said, he did slightly hesitate when the Greek Freak’s name came up.
“Career vs. career or age vs. age?” he asked the interviewer to get further clarification about Giannis. “Just right now,” they answered. Shaq told them to keep going.
Finally, one name did emerge that forced Shaq to break the stick. The player? Reigning league and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “He’s the MVP,” explained Shaq.
It makes sense why Shaq continues to give LeBron his props. Last season, James averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game. Those numbers were not just impressive for his age, they were great by any standard, as he finished sixth in the MVP race at the end of the regular season. There’s a chance he does even better next season, since he and Doncic now have some defensive help in Marcus Smart and DeAndre Ayton.
It’s interesting that Shaq still thinks LeBron is better than the likes of Luka and Giannis, especially since it contradicts previous comments he made. O’Neal once made a list of the best starting five players currently in the league, and LeBron wasn’t on it. Instead, he chose SGA, Giannis, Jalen Williams, Steph Curry, and Nikola Jokic.
Shaq would, of course, argue that a starting lineup and a solo player are two different conversations, so he could still omit LeBron and call him the best in theory. The big man is also known to use tactics like this to motivate younger players to chase the brass ring, so this could be his way of pushing the next generation of superstars to step up their game.
Why James wasn’t as good as Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan
This also would not be the first time Shaq ranked LeBron lower than many others would. He once explained on his Big Podcast that the King lacked something Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan had: intimidation.
“I’ve heard players say, including myself, ‘I feared [Michael Jordan].’ I’ve heard players in [Mario Chalmers’s] generation say they feared Kobe. I’ve never really heard any player say they feared LeBron,” said O’Neal to Mario Chalmers, who was the guest for that week.
“I didn’t think players really feared LeBron like they did Jordan, and it’s not that you shouldn’t fear Bron, I just think at the end of the day, Bron has been through so much that he wanted to be liked,” Shaq added.
Again, Shaq is not wrong. It is public knowledge that MJ was sometimes a monster of a teammate, as was Kobe, with whom he won three rings in LA. And that is by no means a knock on LeBron. If anything, it shows how admired LBJ was in Miami, Cleveland, and Los Angeles. He also still has four rings, so it is not as if his methods did not lead to success.
Regardless, LeBron will be entering the new season looking to continue building his legacy. Only time will tell if anyone decides to take up Shaq’s offer and grab the brass ring from the icon.
