It’s TIME. The shiny new NBA season tips off this week (as of this writing). Hoops fans rejoice! Shaq fans, get ready for another season of Inside the NBA and the big man’s big ideas and comments. We’re already popping the popcorn.
Times like this – the start of the season and all – brings out the prognosticator in fans of all stripes. Who’s going to the Finals? What teams will crash and burn? How’ my favorite team / player / mascot going to do this year? (Do you follow mascots? Cool.) Anyway, it’s a time when – as the old cliche goes – hope springs eternal, and we’re all looking forward to our teams having great seasons.
How about Shaq? What’s he up to in the days leading up to the regular season? As we’ve seen in the past, the big man likes to make big predictions, and big claims about his favorite players, too. One of O’Neal’s favorite things to play with – or so it seems – is to come up with fantasy matchups. How different players of different NBA “ages” could stack up against each other.
This year, Shaq is already in the game, so to speak. The Lakers legend has come up with yet another of his soon-to-be-famous hypothetical five-man matchups that involve current and retired stars.
And… what a surprise! Shaq’s teams almost always include himself, and (we’re pretty sure) always have him on the winning side. No surprise. Our man is nothing if not confident in his own skills, and those around him.
This time? Well, let’s leave it up to you. Check out these lineups, and let us know which side you got. Here at the offices of the ShaqFu Radio blog, there’s honestly some head-scratching going on.
This time around, Shaq’s squad reads like a list of all-time greats from the past. His lineup includes three Lakers icons: himself (of course!), along with Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson. Along with those three, he’s included two more who may have been the best ever in their positions: Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.
The other squad is a superstar lineup plucked from today’s best: Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic. Wow! Where do we get tickets for that one!
Gotta admit, a couple of the pairings are amazing and cool. What would it be like to see MJ and Bird wearing the same uni? How would O’Neal and Jokic match up – and duke it out – on the same floor?
What’s your call? Who wins that amazing fantasy matchup? Even Shaq might have thought about it for a second more seconds than usual. On his IG post showing off the lineups, he wrote, “My team would definitely win, but this one won’t be easy.”
We’d really love to see the Shaq / Joker matchup. Back in the day, only a few – very few! – players were able to stop of limit O’Neal. The Denver Nuggets superstar might struggle defensively to keep the four-time champion from wreaking havoc inside the paint.
That’s not the only over-the-top matchup. How about Jordan vs. James, and Johnson vs. Curry? This past offseason, Curry got some tongues wagging when he picked himself as the greatest point guard of all time…including putting himself over Magic.
Anyway, just another day in the NBA Fantasy Zone. Argue amongst yourselves, and get ready for another big-time NBA regular season. Enjoy!