Shaquille O'Neal made an incredible comment about Michael Jordan in his prime. When JJ Redick asked Shaq about how it was to watch prime Jordan, the 3-time Finals MVP compared it to seeing God.
“I don’t know what God looks like, It’s like seeing God. The stuff he did on TV and when you saw it in real life, you're like, 'Oh my God, this is really real.'"
O'Neal explained that he felt this way after their first matchup against each other where he saw Jordan come to life and cook him.
"One of the first plays of the game, in my mind I'm thinking, 'I'm not getting f***ing dunked on,' so I tried to meet him early. The mother****er slipped by me, I bumped him, and he still did that sh*t, laid it up off the glass, and the crowd went crazy. I was like, 'F**k, this guy is real.'"
O'Neal was drafted into the NBA in 1992 by the Orlando Magic, immediately impacting the league as a rookie All-Star. O'Neal would reach the NBA Finals by 1995 in a season where he beat Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the Playoffs en route. Unfortunately, he wouldn't replicate Jordan's success but established a new niche for himself as the most dominant player the game has ever seen.
Regardless, it seems O'Neal continues to support Team Jordan when it comes to the GOAT conversation.
It's hard to argue against him as Jordan's resume of six titles, six Finals MVPs, a 6-0 Finals record, 10 scoring titles, five regular-season MVPs, one Defensive Player of the Year 14 All-Star teams, and 11 All-NBA teams might never be touched again.
JJ Redick Criticized The Quality Of Michael Jordan's Opponents
While on the podcast with Shaquille O'Neal, JJ Redick raised a question many fans and experts have been using to diminish the Jordan era. Redick brought up how the NBA had been watered-down at the time of Jordan's dominance due to the string of expansion teams added at the time.
“A lot of times, we're comparing eras. I'll say this with Michael Jordan, and I don’t mean this to be controversial. During his heyday, six teams were added to the NBA. There were 90 players added to the NBA. Does that not water it down? I'm not talking playoffs by the way, no chance. But you're not telling me that the league for a little bit is going to be watered down."
Between Jordan entering the NBA and retiring, the league added six teams to increase from 23 to 29 teams. Due to the nature of an NBA expansion draft, a lot of the new teams were full of average to below-average players who were cast away by other teams in the NBA. Naturally, this diluted the quality of the competition.
Nonetheless, those teams weren't expected to make the playoffs where Jordan played and beat the era's best teams to earn his incredible accolades. Players of this caliber would succeed regardless of the era they played in, so there is no questioning the legitimacy of what Jordan achieved.
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