He's just asking the question.
After a vintage, 33-point performance from Stephen Curry in a crucial overtime win against the Boston Celtics Tuesday night, Shaq had some thoughts.
On the NBA on TNT postgame show, he asked whether it's time to put Curry in the debate for the greatest player of all time:
"I'm just wondering, because he's been consistently the best shooter his whole career -- I'm wondering, is it time to start putting him as the best player of all time?"
Kenny Smith was stunned.
"Best player? You put him over you?"
O'Neal didn't hesitate.
"Yes," O'Neal said.
Ernie Johnson got to the heart of it, asking whether Shaq would put Curry over Michael Jordan.
"No, I'm not putting him anywhere," O'Neal said. "Is it time to just put him in the conversation. I'm asking the fans, is it time to start putting him in the conversation as one of the best players ever?"
Smith wasn't having it.
"As the best player ever? No. Not as the best player ever. He might be the best at his position."
It's a question that hasn't really been asked given that - as Smith argues - Curry doesn't have the size to affect the game in the same way that Jordan or LeBron James do.
But O'Neal's point is not that Curry - a two-time MVP, four-time champion, and universally accepted as the greatest shooter of all time - should be considered the GOAT, just that it might be worth considering him in that debate.