Shaquille O’Neal has had the pleasure of playing with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, so the Big Aristotle can be considered a bit of an expert on both. In an interview with Antenna, Shaq was asked who was the better player between the two of them and his answer was surprising but not because of his assessment of Kobe or LeBron.
While Shaq hedged his answer in comparing the two, (saying that LeBron was the more complete player and Kobe was the more aggressive scorer) he was much more straightforward in his opinion of who is the greatest player ever.
“They’re different. LeBron is more of an all-around player — Hey this guy’s open, let me kick it to him. Kobe is more of, Oh, we’re down six? I’m going to shoot it three times and get us six points. But they’re both great players. It’s a matter of opinion. To me, Dr. J was the greatest player ever. But I ask other people, they say Jordan, some say Kobe, some people say LeBron. It’s always going to be a matter of opinion.”
Many would agree with Shaq in his assessment of LeBron and Kobe, but it’ll probably be much harder to find many takers for the “Dr. J is the greatest of all time” argument. Make no mistake, Julius Erving was great.
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But better than Michael Jordan? That is a bold opinion.
