Shaq: Lakers would've 'easily' beat Jordan's Bulls
Shaquille O'Neal believes the Los Angeles Lakers dynasty he led alongside Kobe Bryant would've "easily" beat Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls.
"I would've killed Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, (Bill) Cartwright," O'Neal told ESPN's Ariel Helwani. "The factor is me and my free-throw shooting."
The Hall of Famer averaged just under 11 free-throw attempts per game across eight seasons with the Lakers, though he shot just 53.3% from the charity stripe during that time.
Phil Jackson was the bench boss for both iconic squads but would coach Jordan's Bulls in the hypothetical situation.
"So (Jackson) would've tried the Hack-a-Shaq thing," O'Neal said. "So, I still would average like 28, 29 (points per game). But the key would've been the free throws. So with me, it's always 50-50. So hopefully I would've been on. If I would've been on, we win. If I would've been off, we lose.
"But I love having these conversations. 'They would've did this. We would've done that.' But I could strictly say I think we would've beat them."
As a member of the Lakers, O'Neal split a pair of regular-season meetings against the Jordan-led Bulls.
| Result | PTS | REB | BLK | FTM-FTA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L | 27 | 13 | 2 | 3-6 |
| W | 24 | 9 | 2 | 8-13 |
However, he did have two postseason matchups against Jordan when he was with the Orlando Magic.
The LSU product averaged 24.3 points, 13.2 boards, and four assists while shooting 65.1% on 13.8 free-throw attempts in the 1995 playoffs as Orlando won the best-of-seven second-round series in six games.
Chicago avenged its defeat the next year by sweeping the Magic in the Eastern Conference finals en route to an NBA title. O'Neal still managed to produce 27 points and 10.8 boards per contest but shot only 36.4% on 8.3 attempts from the charity stripe.