NBA greats Shaquille O'Neal and Scottie Pippen engage in Instagram war

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Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Former Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal used social media to take a random shot at the Chicago Bulls dynasty Sunday, sparking a back-and-forth Instagram exchange between himself and Scottie Pippen.

It started after O'Neal posted a photo featuring himself, Kobe Bryant, Elgin Baylor and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as the Bulls' Michael Jordan, Pippen, Derrick Rose, Dennis Rodman and Horace Grant. Shaq portrayed the image as a matchup between each franchise's all-time starting fives -- and O'Neal argued that the Lakers' collection of stars would beat the Bulls by 50 points.

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We would beat em by fifty "what you think". Let me know and don't hold back A photo posted by DR. SHAQUILLE O'NEAL Ed.D. (@shaq) on Jul 19, 2015 at 5:29pm PDT

Pippen was not impressed. He won six titles with the Bulls, while O'Neal won just three with the Lakers.

"I don't get caught up in hypotheticals," Pippen said in a response on his Instagram Monday.

Sorry @shaq but I don't get caught up in hypotheticals. All I know is we won 6 titles, twice the amount you claimed while in LA... A photo posted by Scottie Pippen (@scottiepippen) on Jul 20, 2015 at 1:55pm PDT

That really riled up O'Neal, who fired back with consecutive Instagram posts about Pippen's role on the championship teams he was a part of.

"Remember, I was Batman you was Robin," Shaq said in his first of two responses to Pippen.

Sorry @scottiepippen I don't believe in hypotheticals either, but I seen most of those final you did ok , but this guy did most the work . #youwereok steve kerr and Ron harper deserve more credit than you , remember I WAS BATMAN YOU WAS ROBIN , I was PUFFY YOU WAS MASE... A photo posted by DR. SHAQUILLE O'NEAL Ed.D. (@shaq) on Jul 20, 2015 at 3:10pm PDT

Anybody need a T MOBILE SIDEKICK. I GOTTa PRETTY GOOD ONE #BESTSIDEKICKEVER A photo posted by DR. SHAQUILLE O'NEAL Ed.D. (@shaq) on Jul 20, 2015 at 3:56pm PDT

Pippen later responded, pointing out Shaq's own experience as a sidekick.

Speaking of being a sidekick... if I recall correctly you know a thing or two about that as well. @shaq A photo posted by Scottie Pippen (@scottiepippen) on Jul 20, 2015 at 5:58pm PDT

However, the matchup O'Neal created looks like one for the ages, featuring six Hall of Famers -- eight once Bryant and O'Neal become eligible. While the contest will only exist as a hypothetical, it would be logical to predict that neither team would come close to beating the other by 50.

BONUS: Shaquille O'Neal's Favorite Easy-Bake Oven Recipes

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