The 2001 Los Angeles Lakers and the 2017 Golden State Warriors are two of the most powerful teams in NBA history. The Lakers are still the last team to three-peat in the association, while the Warriors tried to emulate them, but the Toronto Raptors ruined their plans three years ago.
In recent years, fans have discussed who would win if they ever clashed, and more recently, some of the members of both teams have given their two pennies on this situation. Last month, Robert Horry credited Shaquille O’Neal as the reason why his Lakers would win, but more recently, Stephen Curry said he and Klay Thompson would win it for the Dubs.
Well, Shaq also chimed in on this intense debate during a recent edition of his The Big Podcast, obviously siding with his Lakers and explaining what strategy they’d use to stop Curry, Thompson, and Kevin Durant (45:00 mark):
“I think we win, they think they win… I say we win, ’cause who’s gonna guard me and Kobe, right? They say, ‘obviously we feel like we can win, I don’t know who can guard Shaq, but I don’t know who can guard me and Klay either, and 3 is better than 2. Here’s my rebuttal: Once they get hot, D-Fish sends it to the whole, I may lay their ass out. Now, what’s gonna happen after that layout? You’re still gonna be hitting those 3s? And every time we up on you on 3, you’re gonna have to drive, and when you drive, you’re gonna have to worry about my laying y’all ass out. Steph, Klay and KD, I’mma test their ass all the way up.”
Shaq explains that the Lakers’ defense wouldn’t allow the Warriors’ Big 3 to shoot and they would have to attack the basket to score, and he’ll be waiting for them there. He even said that Andrew Bogut would get a lot of points instead of Curry, Thompson, or Durant.
Moreover, he said that the Warriors would have to put two players to guard him or he would have a 60-point night every time they clash.
“They’re gonna have to double me. If they don’t double me, I’m going for 60 without the free throws.”
Shaq is pretty confident in his team, just like Curry is in his Warriors. If these teams clashed in the Finals, it would have been a terrific matchup, but sadly, they were at their peak almost 20 years apart. Still, these conversations about who would have won and who had the best team are always interesting, but we’ll never know which team would have come up with the W.
