Shaquille O'Neal says his three-peat Lakers would've 'easily' beaten Michael Jordan's Bulls in their prime

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NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal is confident his Los Angeles Lakers could match it with anyone. 

In an interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, O'Neal said his three-peat Los Angeles Lakers squad (2000-02) would have 'easily' beaten Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, who won six titles in eight seasons in the '90s.

MORE: 'The Last Dance' - State of the NBA heading into the 1997-98 season

"'Cause I would've killed Luc Longley, Bill Winnington, [Bill] Cartwright," he said. "The factor is me, and my free-throw shooting."

Given Phil Jackson coached both teams, Helwani had him coaching the Bulls in the matchup, but O'Neal didn't waver in his opinion.

"So he would've tried the Hack-a-Shaq thing," Shaq responded. "I still would average like 28, 29, but the key would've been free throws. With me, it's always 50-50. If I would've been on, we win. If I would've been off, we lose."

Alongside Kobe Bryant, O'Neal and the Lakers dominated the early 2000s, winning three titles and going to the Finals again in 2004, before losing to the Detroit Pistons. 

With the upcoming release of the highly-anticipated ESPN 10-part documentary 'The Last Dance', which chronicles the 1997/1998 championship-winning Chicago Bulls, who completed their second three-peat, the debate over the best team in NBA history is sure to be at the forefront among NBA fans.

In 2018, many debated how the Steph Curry's Golden State Warriors would stack up in history after they broke the 1995/96 Chicago Bulls' 72-10 regular-season record. Either way, O'Neal puts his Lakers above both the Bulls and Warriors. 

"I think we'd easily win," Shaq told USA TODAY regarding their chances against the Warriors. "Other people might feel different, they [the Warriors] might feel different. But we had one of the best teams of all-time in 2001 when we went 15-1 in the playoffs.

"We would've gone 16-0 but A.I. [Allen Iverson] went off on us and stepped over Ty Lue." 

Which team would you take in a seven-game series, the Lakers, Warriors or Michael Jordan and the Bulls?

The Last Dance documentary airs in Canada on Sunday, April 19 on ESPN.

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