Shaquille O’Neal has made his opinions clear on a number of topics concerning the NBA. He gave Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert some harsh criticism, calling him the worst player in the NBA, and he then attempted to clarify it by saying it had to do with Gobert’s large contract.

The legendary Los Angeles Lakers center and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer recently revealed his all-time starting lineup. While he gave some love to late fellow Lakers great Kobe Bryant by including him on his list, he left off current L.A. superstar LeBron James and instead went with Julius Erving, as well as Karl Malone, another former Laker, as his forwards (h/t Lakers Daily).

Shaq says Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time and reveals his all-time starting five:Michael JordanKobe BryantJulius ErvingKarl MaloneShaquille O’Neal(Via Sport Bild) pic.twitter.com/ydKyEFbuEc

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 27, 2024

Naturally, O’Neal also put himself on his own starting five.

While James is considered by an increasing number of people as the greatest NBA player ever, or at least one of the two or three greatest players ever, there are those who have him much lower on their list of luminaries. Although he’s the league’s all-time leading career scorer and has established greater longevity than any other basketball player, he does have a 4-6 record in the NBA Finals and hasn’t taken charge at times in big games or in crunch time.

One has to wonder what was exactly the reason O’Neal went with Erving instead of James, or for that matter, someone such as Boston Celtics great Larry Bird.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers great doesn’t place LeBron James in his all-time starting five