LeBron James

Jordan vs. LeBron? Shaq makes his pick in hypothetical one-on-one match

Published Aug. 18, 2015 10:46 a.m. ET

foxsports

Shaquille O'Neal weighed in on the recent debate surrounding who would win a hypothetical one-on-one matchup between Michael Jordan and LeBron James, assuming both men were in their respective primes.

Jordan said there was "no question" he would win, while James responded by saying "I'm gonna take myself versus anybody."

O'Neal went with Jordan, and explained his reasoning why.

"Mike," said O'Neal, via Yahoo Sports. "I think you have to go with a young Jordan every time."

"It would be an interesting game," said O'Neal. "Young LeBron was more like (Lakers Hall of Famer) Magic Johnson. He was sort of like Magic with Jordan's abilities. He liked to pass, and he liked to get it up.

"But Mike was Mike. He was just special, like no one else. He always did things no one else could do, and things you couldn't compare to anyone else. So he was special, and he'd win."

Jordan has become almost mythical at this point, so it isn't a surprise to see players take his side. LeBron has size and strength to his advantage, however, and if nothing else, the game would likely end up being much closer than most people realize.

Still, Shaq had to inject one last eyebrow raiser.

“I’ve seen young Mike and young LeBron and I must say Dr. J is still my favorite player,” Shaq added. “A lot of people today don’t even mention his name but to me I still think he was the best. But these are questions that we’ll never know the answer to.”

(h/t Yahoo Sports)