It’s the NBA offseason, so fantasy games and what-if stories is what hoops fans do while they wait for the new season and watch baseball and the NFL. Today, Shaq weighs in on a fantasy matchup involving – of course- his Lakers and one of the great teams of more recent times.
Thanks to our friends at Basketballnetwork.net for info on this post, BTW. On that post, our man Shaq says his Championship-winning 2001 Lakers would beat the 2017 Golden State Warriors… in a hypothetical matchup, of course.
For those who need to brush up on their NBA and Shaq-history, the 2001 Lakers dominated that season, in a big way. The team led by O’Neal and Kobe Bryant racked up a regular-season record of 56-26, and then proceeded to lose just one game in the playoff tournament. The season ended with the Lakers beating the New Jersey Nets, giving the Lakers their second straight Championship.
In more recent times, the 2017 Warriors were equally strong. That season, under the leadership of Steph Curry, the Dubs finished the regular season with an even-better winning percentage, notching a record of 67-15.
Like the Lakers, the Warriors also only lost one game in the playoffs, and like the Lakers (again) Golden State went on to win their second championship in three seasons.
So… seems to us (and the writers at BasketballNetwork.net) that there would be quite an interesting matchup to be had with Shaq’s Lakers and the Warriors of 16 years later. Not surprisingly, O’Neal gives the edge to his team in that potential fantasy matchup.
Shaq: “My team that went 15-1, that’s the best team ever created because we should’ve went 16-0. I say we can win because who’s gonna guard me and Kobe, right?”
Check Shaq’s latest The Big Podcast for more – click here!
The whole idea of such a fantasy matchup seems to have started with Curry himself. In an interview with the sports website Complex.com, Steph said his Warriors would have been able to successfully handle Shaq’s Lakers.
Steph: “At the end of the day, if you could match up in some alternate universe, us versus the 2001 Lakers, obviously, we feel like we can win. I don’t know who would guard Shaq but I don’t know who would guard me and Klay either. We rockin’ with that. And three is better than two.”
Of course we’ll never know who that matchup would have “matched up” IRL, but it’s always fun to consider how the best teams and best players would stack up against each other.