We need to find a super-giant-sized wizard hat, like the ones from the Harry Potter movies, for our man Shaq. Seems one his favorite off-season pastimes is to give his picks for those “all-time best” lists. Now he’s out with a new one for his very first NBA team.
Sure, we’ve seen a ton of lists like this, mostly involving Shaq’s Los Angeles Lakers team. You may have seen the previous ShaqFu Radio post where the big man named himself (of course!) along with LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, and Magic Johnson as the Lakers’ all-time lineup.
Well, now he’s doing the best-of lineup trick again, only this time with his very first NBA team, the Orlando Magic. Of course he included himself (a younger version, no doubt), along with Vince Carter, Dwight Howard, Penny Hardaway, and Tracy McGrady as the best Magic lineup ever.
Now… O’Neal says his young self – along with his favorite Magic lineup – would defeat his (slightly) older self and the rest of the Lakers best-ever lineup! Honestly, that’s quite the shock to those of us there in the ShaqFu Radio blog office. Really? Those members of the Lakers All-Star team were (and in the case of LeBron, are) considered to be some of the best players to ever play their positions.
There’s been some social media posting on this idea, and it’s going on over at the newest online gathering place, Threads. Seems as though Dwight Howard actually started this thing, posting the question, and also having some good words for his old rival, Shaq.
Howard on Threads: “This game might go seven, what you think. and i’m a have to go with the magic on this one. young shaq and young dwight,wooweeeeee.”
Click here to see Howard’s video on YouTube
It’s also interesting to note that Howard is kinda, sorta being nice to O’Neal. For years, these two all-time great big men haven’t had what you might call a friendly relationship. O’Neal has had some pretty hot things to say about Howard, including talking down Howard’s play in the pro leagues of Taiwan.
Yet now, maybe, the two are making up and making nice. Earlier this year, Howard made a bid for peace by telling one podcast audience that both he and Shaq were “getting older” and maybe the two men could “squash whatever beef” they have.
While Shaq hasn’t responded to that olive branch – at least not yet in public – it seems he’s going as far as to acknowledge that Howard was once an elite NBA player.
Still, how about a series between the two lineups? Hard to say…but think of the possibilities of Shaq-on-Shaq in the paint! The rest of the Lakers lineup has three past and current legends: LeBron, Kareem, and Kobe, along with Magic Johnson, who is undoubtedly the greatest point guard in NBA history.
Obviously, we’ll never see what could be quite a great matchup. Still – as always – fun to do these head-games now and then.
