Jun 5, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; TV analyst Shaquille O'Neal looks on beforeg game two of the 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 5, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; TV analyst Shaquille O'Neal looks on beforeg game two of the 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Shaquille O’Neal was put in a tough position when he was asked to blindly rank five NBA players, but the Hall of Famer found a smart and perfect way to escape when Michael Jordan appeared after he had already given away the number one spot.
During a video with YouTuber Jesser, Shaq was asked to rank players without knowing which name would come next.
Stephen Curry was the first player, and Shaq placed the four-time champion at number two. Things became interesting when Shaq himself came next. He could have put himself at the top, but he instead settled for fourth place.
That left three spots available with three players yet to come. LeBron James was next, and Shaq put him at number three. At this point, the remaining slots were one and five.
And then came Kobe Bryant. Unsurprisingly, Shaq wasn’t going to put his former Lakers teammate fifth. He ranked Kobe number one, which seemingly left the final spot for whoever appeared next.
Unfortunately for Shaq, that player turned out to be Michael Jordan. Instead of accepting the consequences of blind ranking and putting Jordan fifth, Shaq simply ranked Jordan number one as well.
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It was probably the best way for Shaq to escape the trap. His final ranking essentially became Kobe and Jordan tied for first, followed by Curry at two, LeBron at three, and Shaq himself at four. It broke the rules of the exercise, but anyone familiar with Shaq’s opinions on NBA history probably saw this coming.
Shaq has consistently made his feelings about Jordan pretty clear. While discussing the GOAT debate in the past, Shaq has called Jordan the greatest player ever.
He has even shared historical rankings over the years, including lists of the greatest players, centers, Lakers, and stars of the 2000s. His exact order has changed depending on the list, but Jordan has consistently received enormous respect from the four-time champion.
Kobe occupying the first spot isn’t surprising either. Despite their complicated relationship while playing together, Shaq has repeatedly praised Kobe Bryant’s greatness. He has made sure that he always includes Kobe’s name in the GOAT debate whenever they are talking about LeBron and Jordan. They won three championships together from 2000 to 2002 and formed the most dominant superstar partnership in NBA history.
Perhaps one of the more interesting decisions was putting Curry ahead of LeBron himself. Shaq was one of the first players to add Curry to the GOAT debate, and he has high praise for the Golden State Warriors superstar.
But ultimately, this was a blind ranking challenge rather than just Shaq sitting down and constructing a careful all-time list. The entire point is to force participants into making uncomfortable and tough decisions without knowing who’s coming next.
Shaq almost fell directly into that trap. Then Jordan’s name appeared, and he decided the rules didn’t matter anymore.
There was simply no chance Shaq was going to look into the camera and call Michael Jordan the fifth-greatest player in that group.