National Basketball Association

Shaq, Pippen argue about Bulls, Lakers on Instagram

Published Jul. 20, 2015 8:04 p.m. ET

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By Darryn Albert

The NBA offseason is the perfect time for our basketball-deprived minds to engage in preposterous historical debates on the Internet and to argue about legacy and the value of rings until the cows come home. Now, two NBA legends want in on the fun.

The first shot was fired by none other than the illustrious basketball luminary himself, Dr. Shaquille O’Neal. The Big Aristotle posted the following picture of the all-time starting fives of both the Lakers and the Bulls to his Instagram on Sunday. He posed the question to his followers of which squad would emerge victorious in a hypothetical showdown and, not too subtly, offered his own prediction as to how it would shake out.

OOH KILL EM, SHAQ!

As for the debate that actually started this whole brouhaha, it would probably be much closer than Shaq boldly proclaimed.

With his 6’9″ frame, Magic would give Derrick Rose all sorts of trouble defensively. But Rose’s explosiveness would pose problems for the below-average defender Magic was, making this matchup a draw.

Give Jordan the slight edge over Kobe, though not an overwhelming one as Bryant has been known to steal a move or two from His Airness on occassion.

At the small forward position, I’d take the all-around offensive threat/boards crasher Baylor over the elite defense/intangibles provided by Pippen.

Meanwhile, Shaq was probably the most dominant center of all-time and would easily roast any Bull thrown his way, even if he would be playing out of position and even if Rodman was one of the better anti-Shaqs the league ever had.

As for the center battle, the 6’10” Horace Grant wouldn’t stand a chance against Jabbar’s skyhook, the most unstoppable shot ever produced on a basketball court.

Not to mention that Shaq didn’t even allude to the Jerry West-James Worthy-Wilt Chamberlain second unit that the Lakers would be able to unleash upon the likes of Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, and Artis Gilmore.

So this humble writer would predict a competitive low double-digit victory for the all-time Lakers. Meanwhile, we can all sit back and eat our popcorn as two NBA greats engage in a riotously trivial battle on social media.

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