Shaq demands NBA fans include Steph in GOAT conversation
Since winning his fourth NBA championship in 2022, Steph Curry's status among basketball's all-time greats has been a hot topic.
After the Warriors' comeback victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, TNT studio analyst and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal made a bold proclamation about Curry's greatness.
'As the supreme leader of the big man alliance, I demand you fans to start putting Steph Curry in that greatest of all time conversation,' O'Neal declared during the TNT broadcast. 'Just start putting him in the conversation. There's [Michael Jordan], there's Kobe [Bryant], there's LeBron [James]. Start putting Steph in that conversation. I demand it.'
That's high praise coming from someone whom many rank as another of the NBA's top 10 all-time players, and competed alongside and against many other names in that echelon.
'I played against Mike, played with Kobe, played against and with LeBron. They're all great,' O'Neal continued. 'But at some point, we're going to have to put Steph Curry in that category. I'm not saying he is [the GOAT], but let's just have the conversation. I like all the internet talk and the barbershop talk, but I ain't never seen nothing like that before, and nobody has. And how many [rings] he got? One, two, three, four, against LeBron. I demand that people start putting my guy in that conversation, period.'
Needless to say, O'Neal probably isn't someone whose demands you want to refuse.
Tuesday wasn't the greatest performance of Curry's career, but the Warriors star did put on a show in the second half at one of basketball's most renowned venues. He scored 14 of his 28 points during Golden State's big third-quarter charge, before adding a pair of clutch 3-pointers down the stretch to seal the win.
And of course, the classic showman wished the home crowd sweet dreams just for good measure.
It's hard not to call that greatness.
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