Shaquille O'Neal makes Michael Jordan GOAT claim as he reveals his all-time starting five
Shaquille O'Neal says Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all-time as he revealed his all-time NBA starting five.
O'Neal made his feelings very clear regarding Jordan's GOAT status following his legendary NBA career.
'MJ' won six NBA championships during his iconic spell with Chicago Bulls.
And, naturally, he made O'Neal's all-time starting five.
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But the 52-year-old left out some huge names including LeBron James.
He opted for Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Julius Erving, Karl Malone and himself.
The late, great Bryant won five NBA championships as he spent his whole basketball career in Los Angeles with the Lakers.
Erving won one NBA title in his career but is recognised by O'Neal, who also selected Malone, who failed to win a championship during his career yet was a two-time MVP.
On Jordan being the NBA GOAT, O'Neal told Sport Bild: "When I got to the NBA, Michael Jordan dominated. Then came Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. But for me, the greatest of all time is Michael Jordan."
It's not the first time O'Neal has thrown shade at James when comparing him to Jordan.
'Shaq' spoke about how players, including himself, feared Jordan unlike the current Lakers superstar.
"I've heard players say, including myself, 'I feared Mike’. I've heard players in [Chalmers'] generation say they feared Kobe (Bryant)," he explained.
“I've never really heard any player say they feared LeBron.”
Two-time NBA champion Mario Chalmers added: "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. So, it was kind of like... 'I'm going to do things now so that people like me, people respect me'.
"I mean [people are] always going to respect what [he] did but you're actually going to like 'Bron and want to be a fan of 'Bron now. So I think that's what that was..."
Topics: Shaquille ONeal, Michael Jordan, Basketball, NBA
Nasir Jabbar