Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors are set to make another history in the 2018-19 NBA season. If they succeed to win the 2019 NBA championship title, the Warriors will become the first team to three-peat since the Los Angeles Lakers did it from 2000 to 2002. Though the season is far from over, there is already ongoing debate regarding who is the better team between the Warriors and the Lakers team led by NBA Hall of Famers Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.
In a recent interview with Scott Gleeson of USA Today Sports , Shaquille O’Neal confidently said that his Lakers team can “easily beat” the Warriors. O’Neal’s controversial statement immediately reached Stephen Curry, who bravely responded and said that Shaq is “dead wrong.” Curry is very optimistic that even if the Lakers have the prime O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, the Warriors will still emerge as the victor.
“Oh, he’s dead wrong,” Curry told ESPN . “Of course. We’d beat them. We can go back-and-forth all day.”
While the 2000-2002 Lakers had Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, a healthy Warriors have a starting lineup featuring five NBA All-Stars, including Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and DeMarcus Cousins. All NBA fans will surely pay to see those two legendary teams face each other on the court.
Stephen Curry signals willingness to meet with @NASA over Moon landing doubts https://t.co/osmxGrnUfV pic.twitter.com/eoIoWTtxAo
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 12, 2018
Despite denying O’Neal’s claim, Curry admitted that it is hard to make comparisons between teams coming from different eras. The type of basketball O’Neal played during his prime is very different from the modern NBA where there is less physicality on the court. However, Curry believes going on a three-peat like Shaq’s Lakers squad is one of the greatest achievements for any team in the league.
“For me, I think it’s a tough conversation because I’ve always found it hard to compare eras to each other,” Curry said. “But in terms of having three banners up there and create parallels and comparisons to how they dominated the league through their run to what we’re doing now, I think that speaks a lot on its own. Just in terms of us accomplishing the goal and fulfilling the potential that we have.”
Instead of making comparisons and debating regarding who is better, Stephen Curry urges NBA fans to just appreciate the greatness of teams who dominated their respective eras. Like the 2000-2002 Lakers, Curry is hoping that players and other NBA teams will also talk about the Warriors 20 to 30 years from now.
