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30 Jan 2002: Shaquille O''Neal #34 and Kobe Bryant #8 of the Los Angeles Lakers during a pause in the action against the Orlando Magic at the TD Waterhouse Centre in Orlando, Florida. DIGITAL IMAGE NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees
30 Jan 2002: Shaquille O''Neal #34 and Kobe Bryant #8 of the Los Angeles Lakers during a pause in the action against the Orlando Magic at the TD Waterhouse Centre in Orlando, Florida. DIGITAL IMAGE NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees Fernando Medina/Getty Images

Shaq Says His 2001 Lakers Would Beat the Warriors

Katie Richcreek
Jun 7, 2016

To Shaquille O'Neal, the Los Angeles Lakers' record 15-1 playoff run in 2001 means more than the Golden State Warriors' record 73-win regular season in 2015-16.

At least that was the implication.

The NBAย great-turned-TNT broadcaster told Brian Mahoney of theย Associated Press that his Lakers team would have beaten the current defending championsโ€”whether they were playing under the rules of that era or the rules of the present.

"If you're using those rules, we'd win," O'Neal said. "Now we use these rules these days, we'd still win, because you wouldn't be allowed to touch me, you wouldn't be allowed to touch Kobe [Bryant]."

The Lakers won the second of three straight championships under Phil Jackson that year, when, as Mahoney put it, "O'Nealย could be an even bigger physical force before rules changes loosened the game for free-flowing offenses like Golden State's to thrive."

Who Is Mark Walter?