LeBron James’ Superteam vs. Shaquille O’Neal’s Superteam: Who Would Win A 7-Game Series?

The league is filled with superstars and that is why we love it so much. Two players that stood out among the best of the best in the last three decades are LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal. James came into the league in 2003 as the next candidate to overtake Michale Jordan as the greatest of all time. While that discussion is a separate topic, James has taken the league by storm with four MVP Awards, four championships with three different teams, and 10 trips to the NBA Finals.

His last championship came with the Los Angeles Lakers, where O’Neal was a Hollywood star in the 2000s. While James balling out in high school, O’Neal helped the Lakers win the last three-peat on record in league history with three consecutive titles and Finals MVP Awards, between 2000 to 2002. Both players have played alongside some great talent but if we pinned a LeBron superteam against a Shaq superteam, who would win?

In this seven-game series, let’s take a look as the two superteams square off in an ultimate matchup.

Kyrie Irving vs. Penny Hardaway

Before James came to the Cavaliers, Irving was an All-Star. His first two seasons in the league saw him averaging about 20 points and 5.5 assists per game. When James joined, that line was steady. In six seasons with the Cavaliers, Irving averaged 21.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and shot 39.1% from three-point range. When it comes to this team, Irving is easily the team’s best outside shooter.

Hardaway was an instrumental piece in helping the Magic make the NBA Finals in 1995. There was a four-year run where Hardaway was an All-Star. While playing alongside O’Neal, Hardaway averaged around 19.0 points, 6.0 assists, and 1.9 steals. Hardaway is the better rebounder than Irving with 4.7 for his career in Orlando, while one could say he was the better defender as well.

Dwyane Wade vs. Dwayne Wade

When looking at the ultimate comparison of yourself, let’s take a look at the player profile for each version of Dwyane Wade. The version of Wade on Team LeBron was the secondary player. He was the second option that gave LeBron full range to run the team. With that said, Wade was an All-NBA selection, and All-Star played in four NBA Finals alongside him and won two championships. Wade also averaged a line that hovered right around 20/5/5.

As for the Shaq version of Wade, this was a player that was the best on the floor for the Miami Heat. While O’Neal was a champion in his own right, this Heat team was his. Wade was the Finals MVP winner of the 2006 championship that featured leading the team back from a 2-0 hole. Wade also averaged a team-leading 27.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks during the regular season of that year.

LeBron James vs. Kobe Bryant

Luckily, the two players squared off against each other 22 times during the regular season when both were in the league. James won the matchup with a 16-6 regular season record. James averaged 28.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.7 blocks. That includes shooting 46.9% from the field, 32.5% from three-point range, but a dismal 69.4% from the free throw line. The two teams never met in the playoffs as the Cavaliers were upended in 2009 by the Orlando Magic to rob the world of one of the greatest Finals matchups ever.

Bryant was on the losing end of the record with just six wins against LeBron-led teams. Bryant averaged 24.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.2 blocks. He shot 42.8% from the field, 34.1% from three-point range, and 84.7% from the free-throw line. This matchup has little room for error as both players rank among the greatest of all time.

Anthony Davis vs. Kevin Garnett

These two players had four meetings during the regular season. At the time, Garnett was in his older phase, while Davis was entering the league as the No. 1 overall pick. In those matchups, Davis led the Pelicans to three wins against Garnett. That included averaging 19.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks. Meanwhile, Garnett averaged 11.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks in 21.9 minutes of action.

Now, if we look at the primes of their careers, we would look at the 19.8 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks that Garnett averaged in 14 seasons with the Timberwolves or his 15.7 points and 8.3 rebounds he had with the Celtics. Davis owns a career average of 23.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks. This back-and-forth would have been ideal to watch if both were in the league around the same time.

Chris Bosh vs. Shaquille O’Neal

According to the numbers, this could be a matchup that the Shaq superteam would take advantage of. Both players met 15 times in the regular season. Around this time, Bosh was a youngster in the league, while O’Neal was entering the later stages of his prime and towards the later part of his career. With that said, O’Neal-led teams owned a 12-3 record against Bosh. During that time, Bosh averaged 17.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks. Bosh was the prime player with the Raptors during this time.

O’Neal averaged 22.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks. The eye-popping stat of it all is the 66.8% shooting from the field in contrast to the 45.9% from Bosh. O’Neal might have shot 47.5% from the line during these matchups, so the “hack-a-Shaq” method could be in play. However, if the team is not hounding him in the middle, the data shows he is going to make two out of three shots.

LeBron Superteam Advantages

Having a true outside scorer will certainly help. When looking at the Shaq superteam, can you find a true outside shooter that consists of Hardaway, Wade, Bryant, Garnett, and O’Neal? The guards shoot 31.6% and 29.3% from three-point range respectively. Bryant is the best three-point shooter at 32.9% from outside given that Garnett and O’Neal are not shooting threats. Even Bosh, at 33.5%, is a better outside shooter than the other team. Having these players will keep the defense honest.

The defense of the Shaq superteam could be tough to score on inside, but the ball movement will keep the team on their toes. With Irving, Wade, and James, this is a better core of passing players than the latter. This ball movement could keep the defense moving which will open up outside shots are gaps that the guards can penetrate.

Shaq Superteam Advantages

The clear advantage for this team is the inside presence. O’Neal was making two out of three shots when playing against Bosh-led teams. While those Raptors teams didn’t have much size, neither did this team, especially if Bosh was the prime defender on O’Neal. This is going to force Davis to play center which is not his primary position. If Davis has to double O’Neal with Bosh, all it would take is a quick pass to find one open man.

This team also owns the pre-LeBron version of Wade. This version was a scoring champion, an All-NBA First Team selection, and a three-time All-Defensive Second Team member. While Wade’s outside shooting is lackluster, this is one of the best combo guards to play the game. He easily has the edge on the version that was the second option when playing alongside James.

Who Wins A 7-Game Series?

Both teams knew there would be an open hole in the middle. That didn’t matter as the Shaq superteam stuck to the game plan. The LeBron team let Bosh try to control the middle but it was to no avail. O’Neal dominated the post with 36 points on 16 of 20 shooting. The offense was very simple as the team dumped off to O’Neal and let him do his thing. With the complementary pieces doing their part, the Shaq superteam took the first game 101-86.

The defense tightened up in the middle with Davis coming over to help. While this opened up opportunities for Garnett to score 18 points and 10 rebounds, it did limit O’Neal to just 20 points. With a hot shooting hand from Irving, who nailed 7 of 13 three-pointers, the LeBron superteam was able to pull out a 95-91 victory.

With the series tied 1-1, the LeBron team took their second game with a breakout game from James and Wade. Both players scored in the 30s by taking advantage of an off-shooting night from Bryant and Hardaway. With both players coming to score just 18 points, the team took advantage of a strong rebounding night from Bosh and Davis to create offense in transition. With the score netted at 92 points, the LeBron squad hacked O’Neal to force him at the line, where he made just 2 of 10 free throws in the final five offensive possessions. On the other end, James and Wade each scored baskets and sealed the 100-94 win with free throws.

O’Neal and Garnett buckled down on defense in the fourth game. The two players combined for 12 blocks to control the paint. The LeBron squad shot a measly 35% from the field in two-point range and it hamstrung Irving into forcing shots from the outside. Irving finished 3 of 13 from three-point range. With the miscues, the Shaq squad used a monster 33-point game from Bryant and a double-double of 20 points and 12 assists from Hardway to win the fourth game 89-81.

The Shaq superteam won their second game in a row by utilizing Wade on offense. The team allowed Wade to run the floor as the point guard and used Hardaway to guard the post. Wade guarding Irving, allowed him to stay out for transition fastbreaks with Bryant. The rebounding trio of O’Neal, Garnett, and Hardaway kept the LeBron squad off the board by winning the rebounding advantage by 18 rebounds. Wade’s 32 points and Bryant’s 26 points of his own were enough to take the fifth game 104-98.

The final two games of the series came down to the wire. To avoid elimination, it took some late-game heroics. With the score tied at 98-98, the Shaq superteam looked to give the ball to O’Neal to work the post with 32.4 seconds left in the game. O’Neal’s shot was blocked by a running Davis. The ball was scooped up by Bosh, who outlet the pass to Irving, who made a diagonal pass to Wade. With James sprinting down the floor, Wade lobbed the pass up to James to throw down with 5.6 seconds left. A vintage Wade to-LeBron dunk gave the team enough momentum and flare to hold off the Shaq superteam’s last-second shot from Bryant to win the game 100-98.

With the series deadlocked at 3-3, the LeBron squad appeared to be ready to take the game with a 98-93 lead with 1:30 left in the game. However, a vintage Laker throwback of Bryant and O’Neal led the team down the stretch. A clutch three-point shot by Bryant made it a one-possession game with 1:02 left to play. On the other end, Garnett lived up to defensive expectations with a hard block on a shot attempt by James. In transition, Bryant and Wade got down the floor to beat the defense with a game-tying two-pointer with 34 seconds to play. The LeBron team tried to melt the shot clock but their last-second shot did now fall. With about 12 seconds left to play, it was plenty of time for someone to get a last-second shot. Nobody expected Hardaway to take it, but it was Garnett with the last-second tip-in to seal a second straight 100-98 victory.

LeBron Superteam vs. Shaq Superteam 3-4

Finals MVP: Shaquille O’Neal

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