Stephen Curry further elevated his status among the all-time greats of this game by winning his 4th championship and 1st Finals MVP in 2022. He was simply sensational on the biggest stage of the sport and has been soaking in the praise all offseason. Shaquille O’Neal once again hyped him up recently, as he called Curry the best player in the world right now.
His exploits this past season have actually led to many claiming that Curry is now an all-time top 10 player, and the Warriors guard is certainly in the conversation at this point. With a lot of debate this offseason around this topic of the greatest players ever, Hoop Central posed the question on Twitter of which lineup you would take from a group of some of the best players this game has ever seen.
Which lineup are you taking?
(via @zgvisualz1) pic.twitter.com/FtPGMNZtss
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) August 28, 2022
NBA Twitter was quite divided on the topic as cases were made for both teams.
“Who’s stopping curry, mj, and KD? Not to mention shaq”
“The second one. It has 3 players better in their counterpart positions (Magic, LeBron and Hakeem).”
“Curry, Jordan, and KD together is crazy. Plus Shaq hogging the glass this is an easy answer. Oh that Tim Duncan guy is pretty good too.”
“the bottom is so easily better”
“Kobe and Shaq 3peated. MJ is a better version of Kobe. Steph and KD won 2 out of 3 together and went 73-9. Duncan has done nothing but win. MJ 3 peated twice. Why is this even a question?”
“Bottom lineup: Everyone just keeps sleeping on Hakeem.”
“Damn great matchups but Steph, Jordan, KD, Timmy and Shaq!? Come on now. I’ll put the mortgage on that”
“Bottom. Bron is definitely over curry, Kobe and MJ are the same, dream over Shaq, Dirk and Tim are the same and Magic over KD. Bottom all day”
“Lol duncan and shaq in the paint plus MJ DURANT CURRY sheeesh easy top”
“The bottom team has better floor spacing overall compared to the top team. So Imma go with the bottom team”
“Tough choice but top team has too much fire power and offensive threats”
“Feel like Steph Mj and Shaq is too much to handle but my heart tellin me trust Kobe & Bron”
“Top easily the pick and rolls would be filthy”
“Hakeem X Kobe = Unstoppable. Game over”
“Top team. Better spacing and more playmaking off ball.”
“Curious how Shaq and Duncan would space the floor? Not sure if it matters too much but I think top has most talent, bottom fits better”
“Curry, MJ, KD Tim, Shaq all day long. Ain’t a defense to ever exist stopping that”
“Bottom is so balanced and well rounded I’d go with them for sure”
“Top. Curry and Durant space the floor and no answer for Shaq”
“Shaq and Curry already unstoppable. Greatest perimeter and greatest post threat in history of basketball”
It definitely is an intriguing battle of matchups, and it could go either way, really, as you might expect when the best players are pitted against each other. Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, Shaq, and Curry might just end up being too much to overcome, however, as you are looking at some of the best scorers in the game and a combination of these four can just hurt you in so many different ways.
