Shaquille O'Neal Says Michael Jordan Is 'Definitely the Greatest Player'

Shaquille O'Neal played alongside LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers for one season in 2009-10, but he apparently leans toward His Airness when it comes to the GOAT debate.

"First time I played [Michael] Jordan, I was terrified," O'Neal said while appearing on Wednesday's episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The big man called Jordan "definitely the greatest player" but noted "once I realized he was human ... once I realized I'm not as good as him but I'm close, I kind of calmed down."

The Jordan praise was notable because it came shortly after Diesel made headlines when he told ESPN's Ariel Helwani his Lakers teams featuring Kobe Bryant and himself would have "easily" beaten the historic Chicago Bulls teams that won six championships during the 1990s.

That opinion was less about Jordan than his own talent—"Cause I would've killed Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, [Bill] Cartwright"—but head-turning since those Bulls teams with No. 23 leading the way are often used as the measuring stick for greatness in the NBA.

O'Neal knew that from watching Jordan before he even reached the NBA:

"I was terrified and happy at the same time. Happy because as a kid, me and my friends were watching this guy. He has his own shoe, he won the dunk contest, he could fly. But then, when I got in the game and saw him do his first move and he hit his shot and he just hit like four or five shots in a row, I was like, 'Wow.' All this stuff I saw on TV, it's real life. I was terrified."

O'Neal discussed a number of other topics during his appearance with Colbert and said he wished he could have played against Julius Erving and Larry Bird as well, calling Dr. J one of his idols.

As far as individual matchups with centers, Colbert asked him how a showdown with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would have played out.

O'Neal answered like only he could:

"Kareem is also one of the greatest players. His skyhook would've been hard to stop, but I think my 'boom boom' would've been hard to stop, too. You know what the boom boom is? The boom boom is when you back them down like this and you just keep backing them down and you just keep backing them down and then you give 'em a 'bow and he goes like that."

Few people in NBA history could have stopped O'Neal on his way to four championships, three NBA Finals MVPs and 15 All-Star selections.

Still, Jordan holds the crown of the greatest ever in his eyes.