In a resurfaced interview from before LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, Shaquille O’Neal shared why, despite LeBron’s historic achievements, he still considers Michael Jordan the greatest basketball player of all time.
“When LeBron passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in points, and he will this year, will that make him the greatest player ever? An interesting question,” Shaq said, acknowledging the significance of LeBron’s climb to the top of the scoring list.
“LeBron is about to do something that hasn’t been done in a long time. And I think he will move his name up there. But for me it’s always Dr. J and Michael Jordan.”
Shaq was quick to clarify that respecting Jordan doesn’t mean disrespecting LeBron, it’s just a matter of personal experience and perspective.
“I do look at LeBron, but I also listen to people’s opinions. Listen, Jordan was the greatest in my opinion.”
“I Was Terrified of Michael Jordan”
When it comes to impact, Shaq says stats aren’t the whole story, and Jordan had something else: a fear factor.
“He’s the only man that had me terrified on the court,” Shaq recalled. “I went from high school admiring him, college admiring him… and all the stuff he was doing on posters, he was doing in real life. Like, he came by me so fast I was like, ‘Oh s**.’”*
“Mike? Yes, I was terrified. But once I regained my nerves, I had to get into karate mode. Because in all the karate movies, the student must someday beat the master. And I won a lot of bets when I asked, ‘Who’s the last guy to beat Michael Jordan in a playoff situation?’” (Shaq points to himself.) “Yes.”
“I’m Jealous of LeBron’s Numbers”
Shaq didn’t hold back in praising LeBron’s record-setting career, and admitted he wished he could’ve broken more records himself.
“When people look at stats, you know, his are definitely going to be up there. And to have passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar… I can truthfully say I’m jealous of that feat because I was 1,500 points behind Wilt Chamberlain. I wanted to pass up Wilt because then I was going to arrogantly say, ‘I’m the most dominant big man ever and I don’t want to hear anybody else’s name.’”
“So now when you talk about most dominant, you bring up Wilt, Bill, and Shaq. It’s cool… but I wanted to be up there by myself.”
“We All Think We’re the Greatest”
Even with all the debate, Shaq says greatness is partly personal, and that includes players like LeBron and Scottie Pippen.
“Jordan’s the greatest. But you know, LeBron will pass up Kareem, and I can’t wait to hear everybody’s opinion.”
And when asked about Pippen once calling himself “the greatest ever,” Shaq replied with a smile:
“We all think we’re the greatest ever. But if you ask me how I want to be remembered? Just want people to say, ‘Shaq was a nice guy.’”
Mike is the player in NBA history to have a defense name the Jordan role.