Shaquille O’Neal recently opened up about the legendary players he shared the court with, offering rare insight into how they stack up.
In a conversation with NBA insider Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, O’Neal described LeBron James as “both of them combined,” referencing Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade.
“Penny was a young Magic, and I was a young Kareem,” O’Neal said, recalling his early years with Anfernee Hardaway in Orlando.
He went on to call Bryant “a young Michael Jordan before he became Michael Jordan” and compared Wade to Kobe in his prime.
O’Neal’s reflections carry weight, having won championships with Bryant and Wade, and having played with a young James in Cleveland.
During the early 1990s, O’Neal and Hardaway formed one of the league’s most electrifying tandems, reaching the 1995 NBA Finals. Their time together was short-lived, but their impact remains a landmark in Magic franchise history.
After joining the Lakers in 1996, O’Neal linked with a teenage Bryant and won three straight titles from 2000 to 2002.
Despite tensions, their partnership dominated the league, and O’Neal witnessed Bryant’s transformation into a global icon.
O’Neal’s move to Miami in 2004 led to another title in 2006, this time alongside a young Wade who earned Finals MVP honors.
He credited Wade’s maturity and leadership for that championship, calling him “Kobe when he was coming into his own.”
O’Neal later joined James in Cleveland during the 2009-10 season, giving him the chance to observe LeBron’s evolving skill set firsthand.
By calling LeBron a hybrid of Kobe and Wade, O’Neal emphasized James’s unique blend of athleticism, vision, scoring, and leadership.
