When it comes to Stephen Curry, Shaq takes only one side. Unless you throw in Kobe Bryant to sweeten the deal. Shaquille O’Neal’s opinion on the Warriors superstar is well-documented, from his jealousy for Curry’s shooting abilities to wanting him in that conversation. Hidden in that admiration is O’Neal’s belief that Curry has ruined the NBA for the big man. Probably why he doesn’t seem to have a chance against him.

This month, Shaq made a surprise visit to kids at the Hoops Academy in Brooklyn. Between distributing free sneakers from his own brand to the kids, Overtime caught up with him to settle some burning debates. O’Neal was asked about a made-up scenario of five Big Diesels vs five Chefs, both in their primes. Shaq didn’t hesitate to say, “Steph” would beat a team of 7’1″ giant clones for a simple reason. “He is a better shooter, better free-throw shooter.”

Ah, yes. That 52.7% free-throw percentage will never stop haunting him. Put that against Curry‘s 91.1%, you’d know why ‘Hack-a-Steph’ never came to be. At least O’Neal has no shame admitting, “He had no weaknesses, I had one.”

While most like to think Shaq would outsize Curry easily, who would want to risk that? O’Neal, on the other hand, got the ‘Jordan Rules’ treatment in Hack-a-Shaq, where opponents got him to the free-throw line only to see him fail. O’Neal now gets mad seeing big men taking more threes and free throws, something not common for his era’s bigs. He’s blamed Curry for the frequency of threes on The Big Podcast several times, while admitting his jealousy towards his shooting abilities.

Shaq is well aware of his weakness. Yet, having his favorite clutch player changes the tide.

Kobe Bryant changes the deal for Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal has two problems with the GOAT debate. First, he hates that Kobe Bryant’s name has faded out of that conversation. Second, he wants Stephen Curry to be included. He’s considered radical in both opinions, but it doesn’t faze him. At the same event in Manhattan, Overtime even asked who would win in a 2vs2 matchup of prime Shaq & Kobe of the Lakers’ three-peat and the Warriors’ prime duo of Steph and Kevin Durant.

The suggestion made Shaq so furious, the interviewer thought he was about to get Hack-a-Shaq-ed. “Stop it. What are you doing?” O’Neal said. Despite fearing for his life, the interviewer pressed for his reaction and got shut down. “Steph and KD versus me and Kobe? Who the f— is gonna guard me? Stop it. That’s the dumbest question I’ve ever heard in my life.”

Hard to believe the opinion drastically changes when you remove Bryant and Durant out of the equation. But yes, the Black Mamba was the answer when Shaq was injured or not making his free throws. So you can see where the Big Shamrock‘s confidence comes from.