Well, don'tcha know, we've got a real humdinger of a story here. NBA Hall of Famer, Shaquille O'Neal, has gone ahead and shared his top 10 greatest players in the history of basketball. He's split 'em into two teams during an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
First Team: The Cream of the Crop
Now, this first team, it's got some real heavy hitters, I tell ya. It includes Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and - get this - Shaq himself! That's quite the lineup if you ask me. But hey, who am I to judge? He's the expert here.
Interestingly enough, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar didn't make it onto that first team. Now, I ain't sayin' they're not good, but according to Shaq, they just didn't make the cut for the top five. As Shaq put it, "That ain’t no disrespect to Malone, [Charles] Barkley and Kareem… That’s my list."
Second Team: Still Plenty of Talent
Moving on to the second team, well, we've got Stephen Curry, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, Isiah Thomas, Karl Malone, and Julius Erving, better known as Dr. J. Now, there's a group of fellas who can play some serious ball.
Funny thing is, Dr. J was added to Shaq's list even though he didn't include Shaq in his own top 10 list. But, as Shaq said, "He’s the great Dr. J. He paved the way for all of us. He can say what he wants and nobody should say a damn thing about it.” Now, isn't that something?
So there you have it folks, straight from the horse's mouth. Shaq's top 10 greatest players in basketball history. It's sure to stir up some chatter, but then again, what's sports without a little friendly debate, eh?