After Shaq said LeBron James isn’t as fearsome as Kobe Bryant and Bron retorted that he outlasted Shaq’s career, the big man clapped back. He pointed out that he had what LeBron James never had in his 21 seasons – the Black Mamba. In their latest back-and-forth, Shaquille O’Neal dropped a mean history lesson to his 34 million followers. Bron is probably looking too.

The post that read, “See Just How Good #Shaq And #Kobe Were, not just making This Duo List TWICE, But Being one of the HIGHEST scoring Duo Of All time,” showed the legendary Shaq-Kobe combination outdo the greatest NBA pairs in history. Shaq and Kobe feature in the top 8 twice, including at the No. 1 spot. Whereas the reigning Purple and Gold duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis are at the third spot.

LeBron and no other duo have matched 2001 Shaq and Kobe who averaged 59.8 points together that season. Their 2002 PPG of 55.1 outscored the Stephen Curry–Kevin Durant duo, and the now estranged Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. King James and The Brow averaged 55.3 points in the 2020 season and they have a chance to catch up while still playing. A small consolation would be James’ on-court partnership with Dwyane Wade who produced 53.1 PPG in their 2012 Miami Heat championship run, which is the 10th highest.

Shaquille O’Neal has been one-half of the most memorable duos on the court, including with Penny Hardaway and Wade. Yet he repeatedly stated that his partnership with Kobe was incomparable not only on Earth, but also on every planet. He likes to remind his fans about it regularly. However, this might not be a routine reminder.

Shaq vs Bron, who gets the last word

Shaq and Bron have been locked in indirect back-and-forth for a while now. It started with Shaq calling James a “nice guy” who doesn’t instill fear in his opponents the way Jordan and Bryant did. “I’ve heard players say, including myself, ‘I feared Mike,’” O’Neal told James’ former teammate Mario Chalmers. “I’ve heard players in your generation say they feared Kobe… I’ve never really heard any player say they feared LeBron.’”

James responded by pointing out he’s been scoring double-digits in his 21st season longer than Shaq’s entire career. He shared he’s had 1210 10+consecutive games whereas O’Neal has played 1207 games in his entire career. As fearsome as Shaq was in his early career, especially alongside Kobe, his dominance and productivity waned in the later years, including when he was LeBron’s teammate in Cleveland in 2010.

Considering both of their personalities, Bron isn’t going to let Shaq have the last laugh. Maybe he’ll have a new comeback, or he’ll catch up to Shaq and Kobe.

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