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We are back with a legendary matchup between superteams. We knocked out the last game with an even bigger splash, this time between Stephen Curry and Shaquille O’Neal’s best teammates. Now, those guys could be teammates with any player Shaq and Curry have played with at any point in their careers. To make it more interesting, we’ve even made these versions of each player their prime, playing basketball at the highest level on the court.
Each team will feature former NBA champions, Finals MVPs, MVPs and some of the NBA’s greatest players of the past three decades. Both Curry and Shaq will be in those lineups and will find themselves in matchups like never before. As a spoiler alert, one of these headliners will have one of his easiest matchups yet, while the other will face his easiest opponent yet.
As always, the matchup will be broken down into five matchups, highlighting each team’s strengths and wrapping it all up with a seven-game series recap. Sit back and enjoy our best superteam matchup yet.
Stephen Curry’s all-time superteam: Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green
Shaquille O’Neal’s all-time superteam: Penny Hardaway, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal
It’s a matchup between Stephen Curry’s superteam and Shaquille O’Neal’s all-time superteam.
Chris Paul vs Penny Hardaway
Image Credit: Back to the World
The first matchup between our starting point guards is something we’ve never seen before. Chris Paul has the endorsement of Stephen Curry’s superteam after being traded to the Warriors this summer for the 2023-24 season. In Paul’s prime, he was the best point guard and two-way guard in the game, excellent as a passer, playmaker, scorer and defender. Paul would be the perfect point guard, running with a team full of shooters and scorers like the Stephen Curry superteam around him.
His opponent will be Penny Hardaway during Shaq’s time with the Orlando Magic. Paul will be busy dealing with a much bigger Hardaway. Penny’s smoothie feel and scoring ability make it hard for Paul to slow down on any given day. Hardaway, a former MVP candidate, was a solid 20.0-point-per-game scorer in his prime and a well-above-average distributor. With all of the Shaq’s focus elsewhere, Hardaway will have ample space and opportunity to use his skills.
Stephen Curry vs Dwyane Wade
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The next matchup will be two completely different play styles going up against each other. Stephen Curry is the first headliner we report here about his monster matchup with Dwyane Wade. As Curry tries to slow down the ultra-athletic Wade, he’ll be challenged like never before on the defensive end. Offensively, Curry will consistently put up 25-30 points as no defender can consistently slow Curry down. Wade is one of the most gifted defensive backs ever, and Curry would shoot off the ball and off screens instead of trying to create his own.
Wade’s offensive plan will be as simple as possible. Every time he gets a chance to touch the ball, Wade has to grab it and try to hit Curry’s chest directly. In terms of strength and athleticism, Wade has a significant advantage over Curry in this regard and must use that to exploit Curry’s defensive flaws. With a quick first step and great finishing ability, Team Curry will have no choice but to send double teams and create opportunities for the more talented scorers on the Shaq team.
Klay Thompson vs Kobe Bryant
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The next game will feature two shooting guards out of position for the most interesting matchup between the two teams. Klay Thompson is another serious three-point threat for a Curry team that will go all out to get rid of Kobe Bryant’s defense. It’s tough for a catch-and-shoot player like Thompson to get past a defender as smart and credible as Bryant. Of course, Thompson’s moments around Bryant inevitably help Curry, but for the most part, I can see him not being a factor in this series.
Kobe Bryant, on the other hand, will be the Shaq’s leading perimeter scorer. Even top-tier Klay Thompson couldn’t defend Kobe Bryant well enough to slow him down or shake him off. I’m sorry to all the Warriors fans who think so, but it turns out Kobe was too fast and too strong for Thompson to do enough work in nearly 48 minutes. Bryant looked to attack Thompson off the dribble and in the midrange, where he thrived on the court for 20 years and won five NBA titles.
Kevin Durant vs Kevin Garnett
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In our fourth game, we’ll have a Kevins battle between two of the best players in NBA history. First, there’s Kevin Durant’s efficient, three-level scoring ability. Durant can elevate his game to any of those three levels he wants, but against a defender like Garnett, Durant will likely keep it at the three and mid-range. Having said that, it won’t be easy to break free from Garnett’s defense, but if anyone can create more opportunities for themselves after adapting to the defense, it’s Kevin Durant.
Garnett will go down as one of the best frontcourt players ever. His role on this team will be as the main defensive pillar of an absolutely loaded offense. Garnett will focus on slowing down one of the greatest scorers of all time, but as we saw during the 2004 MVP season, Garnett has no problem switching between guards, forwards and other big men. Garnett’s versatility will help slow Durant down and help Curry’s team, but never completely stop him. Curry will be able to counter Garnett’s defensive ability with their ball movement and screens, and they like to run for the best scoring options.
Draymond Green vs Shaquille O’Neal
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Before I say this, I want to apologize to all Warriors and Draymond Green fans. This is the biggest mismatch in the entire series. Draymond will be able to make a big difference as a leader and playmaker for Curry’s defense, but when it comes to slowing down O’Neal, there’s just no way around it. With all due respect, there is absolutely no way Green can stop O’Neal’s behemoth in the paint, and certainly can’t stop him without getting into foul trouble.
Where O’Neal will struggle, however, is defending the pick-and-roll that Curry’s team will very obviously run, which will make Green a successful playmaker. For O’Neal, he’s looking to take the fight to the paint and inside, something some of the greatest interior defenders have ever tried and failed to do. Still, this matchup is already the biggest in terms of mismatches, and honestly, it could be the turning point between these two superteams.
Curry’s advantage
Judging from each game, the advantages of both sides are very obvious, let’s review. For Team Curry, it all starts and ends with their ability to shoot from beyond the arc. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and even Chris Paul are all dangerous shooters from beyond the arc, and you can’t give them a shred of momentum in that regard. The number of open shots they get will depend on their other strengths, which we’ll get to later, but in terms of 3-point shooting, it’s going to be the reason this series doesn’t sweep.
Another strength I mentioned is their playmaking ability in all corners of the pitch. Things will start in their backcourt, as Paul and Curry are two of the game’s great playmakers. Curry will use the attention he gets as an outside threat to open doors for his teammates, just as Paul will use his ability to read defenses and adjust accordingly. It would be a deadly combination of shooting and playmaking for Curry’s team, especially when you factor in Durant’s underrated playmaking and Draymond Green’s elite playmaking.
shaq team advantage
When it comes to Team Shaq, I think they have a clear advantage over Team Curry. The Shaq’s first clear advantage will be their defense. Every player at every position was once considered one of the best defenders in the NBA, except for Penny Hardaway, who wasn’t a weakling defensively either. That defensive unit will be the toughest matchup Curry has ever seen, and the sheer size of Shaq’s roster will be a problem for Curry’s offense given that the perimeter will be where they want to operate.
Another advantage lies in the interior in terms of rebounding and scoring. I expect Durant and Green to put up a decent matchup with Garnett and Shaq, but not enough to offset the difference in size and dominance inside. Garnett and Shaq will inevitably dominate the rebounds on both ends, and giving a deadly team like Shaq a second chance will only spell doom for Curry. With those two advantages, it’s hard to imagine a team beating them on shooting ability alone.
Who will win this matchup in a 7 game series?
Game 1 of the series kicked off exactly the way we expected it to in Crash. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson got some early momentum on jumpers from beyond the arc, but once the Shaq could fit in, they did. The Curry team had zero answers to the Shaq team’s frontcourt, and the cooperation between Kobe and O’Neal on the court was also fully demonstrated. Shaq finished with 40 points and 16 rebounds, Garnett and Bryant each had 24 points, and Shaq won 120-103, taking a 1-0 lead early in the series.
In the second game, the Shaq team once again became the focus, and the Curry team did their best to make up for the shortcomings in the interior. With the double-team switching from Shaq to Garnett and vice versa, it allowed Bryant and Wade to do their thing from the perimeter. Wade and Bryant combined for 60 points while Curry and Klay struggled to slow them down and the Shaq seemed to have a solid 2-0 lead in the series.
Game 3 kicked off a comeback for Curry’s team as they fought desperately to avoid a 3-0 deficit in the series. The Splash Brothers were on full fire and led Curry to an early lead. Of course, the Shaq once again held the lead with a huge frontcourt advantage. The difference tonight was Kevin Durant’s 39 points to put Curry ahead and cut the series lead to 2-1 in a 111-100 win for the Shaq.
Game 4 was the most important of the series for Curry’s team, as only one team has come back from a 3-1 deficit in the championship series. Kobe Bryant became the offensive force for the Shaq early on in the game, and they took an early lead. His 41 points on the night weren’t enough, however, as Curry and Kevin Durant made a combined 16 3-pointers for 30 points. Curry made a statement as he beat the Shaq for the second straight game and tied the series with two ties, heading into a crucial Game 5.
Game 5 will get the series back on track, and the Shaq team is more motivated than ever. They knew they couldn’t lose this series and that their heroes in Game 5 would be Shaq himself and Dwyane Wade. Shaq had 33 points and 14 rebounds in the game.
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