"Write it down, take a picture, and fax it!" - Shaquille O'Neal picks Kobe Bryant ahead of Michael Jordan in drafting his all-time starting five in the NBA
NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has long been one of the league’s brightest and most captivating personalities. During a recent interview in Las Vegas with Entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David for the PBD Podcast, O’Neal spoke in-depth about his life, career, and future plans.
Towards the end of their discussion, the two had a bit of fun with a live all-time NBA draft. O’Neal had the first selection in the draft and surprised many by picking his former teammate, the late great Kobe Bryant, ahead of Michael Jordan. Here's how the conversation went.
O’Neal: “Kobe.” Bet-David: “You pick Kobe first?” O’Neal: “Of course.” Bet-David: “Ahead of Jordan?” O’Neal: “Yeah. Bet-David: "Seriously?" O’Neal: "Yeah, I played with Kobe.” Bet-David: “Are you being serious?” O’Neal: “Yeah." Bet-David: "You pick Kobe over M.J.?" O’Neal: “Write it down. Take a picture, and fax it.”
Shaquille O’Neal may have been a little bit biased while selecting his former teammate. However, his decision showed the level of respect and admiration that he has for Kobe Bryant.
It’s well documented that O’Neal and Bryant did not always see eye-to-eye during their time as teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers. However, they still won three championships over eight seasons playing together. In contrast, O’Neal only won one championship in 11 seasons while playing without Bryant in his team.
The question of who should go first in an all-time draft could be debated for hours. But there’s no denying that Kobe Bryant should at least be in the discussion given his extensive list of career accomplishments.
Bryant was a five-time NBA Champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, NBA MVP, 18-time NBA All-Star, and 11-time All-NBA First Team member, among other accomplishments. He also had a legendary work ethic and dedication to the game of basketball. So, there could definitely be worse first overall selections.
The second overall pick in the hypothetical all-time draft went to Patrick Bet-David who surprisingly selected Shaquille O’Neal himself. That left O’Neal with a fairly easy decision to select Michael Jordan third overall.
The top five was then rounded out with Bet-David selecting Hakeem Olajuwon and O’Neal selecting LeBron James. By the time they were done O’Neal had a starting five of Bryant, Jordan, and James, along with Karl Malone and Bill Russell.
Bet-David had a starting five of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Dennis Rodman along with O’Neal and Olajuwon.
O’Neal and Bet-David’s all-time lineups were then judged by the live crowd at hand, with O’Neal winning almost unanimously based on the crowd’s cheers.
“Joker is nice. He's a piece”- Shaquille O’Neal on who is the strongest five in today's NBA
It’s a well-known fact that Shaquille O’Neal is quite hard on most modern-day players, especially modern-day big men. He has famously hated on players such as Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee, and Rudy Gobert.
In the same interview with Patrick Bet-David, O’Neal was asked who is the strongest five in today’s NBA. O’Neal struggled to think of an answer at first before settling on reigning back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic. He then added that Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is his favorite player overall.
“Joker is nice. He's a piece.”
“Yeah, Steph Curry is my favorite player. I love Steph like, work ethic, how he plays. He plays the game the right way. His team, they move the ball, they share the ball. I love Steph Curry.”
Nikola Jokic may not be the dominant low post force that Shaquille O’Neal was. However, his skill set as a do-it-all point-center is undeniable. Likewise, Stephen Curry’s elite shooting and overall ability to impact a game at his height is equally impressive. So it seems pretty clear that it takes a special type of talent to win the approval of O’Neal. Overall it’s hard to find fault in either of his choices.