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NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal recently released a GOAT tier list featuring Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. However, with James placed in Tier 3, Shaq insinuated that him and Bryant had a greater claim to being the GOAT than the current LA Lakers superstar.
The GOAT debate is considered one of the most widely discussed topics in the basketball world. With several opinions influencing the matter, the debate continues to go on without a proper conclusion.
The current narrative sees Michael Jordan pit against LeBron James. Considering that both sides of the argument have had valid points raised for their cause, the debate continues to spur some animated responses.
In this regard, Shaquille O'Neal recently shared his take on the GOAT debate as well. Shaq posted an image on his Instagram account which featured several players ranked in a particular format.
O'Neal took a rather interesting approach to the debate in this context as he placed players in tiers to reflect his opinion. Unsurprisingly, Shaq had Michael Jordan placed in the top tier of players.
This was followed by the second tier, which featured the likes of himself, Kobe Bryant, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. This is where things took a surprising turn.
O'Neal placed LeBron James in Tier 3 alongside the likes of players such as Kevin Durant, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Julius Erving, and Wilt Chamberlain.
The placement is nothing short of shocking considering the achievements LeBron has accumulated over the course of his career. While James is placed in an elite company regardless, it is far from what the general narrative would suggest.
The Instagram post was captioned:
"What's your thoughts on this and no I don't make this up."
Shaq's take on the GOAT debate is intriguing, to say the least. While there are enough arguments to support MJ as the greatest to ever play the game, placing LeBron in Tier 3 could be considered a bit of an irregularity. However, it isn't out of place for Shaq.
The most diplomatic approach would be to say that every player in the top two tiers earned their spot there. Building upon that, several could argue that players in Tier 3 could also be rightfully placed in Tier 2.
Unfortunately, the nature of the debate itself negates a lot of aspects of diplomacy.
Shaquille O'Neal may have contradicted himself by placing LeBron James in Tier 3
Shaquille O'Neal has routinely had very strong opinions when considering players and their performances. In this regard, he has also been critical of the likes of LeBron James in the past.
Unfortunately, his recent post could be in stark contrast to a comment he made regarding James' claim to the GOAT title.
James is currently on track to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time leading scorer. Given the awards and accomplishments the LA Lakers superstar has accumulated over the course of his 20-year career, James only stands to add more emphasis to his claim to the title.
While many would attempt to overlook it, Shaquille O'Neal himself mentioned that James surpassing Kareem would put a lot of the hate to rest.
