Shaquille O’Neal is one of the basketball legends being inducted into the Hall of Fame Friday. But here’s what he had to say about the current Lakers squad, as reported by the Orange County Register:
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“They’re definitely going to be exciting,” O’Neal said during a Hall of Fame news conference Thursday, “but I don’t see them being a contender for a while. I mean, they’ve still got to go up against Golden State in the West, they’ve got to go up against OKC, still got to go up against Cleveland, the Rockets. So they have a long way to go to be a contender.
“Every now and then they’ll make some noise and get the people in the Staples Center excited.” …
O’Neal acknowledged no being “really familiar with the talent” on the Lakers roster, but did say that he has high expectations for rookie Brandon Ingram, the No. 2 pick in June’s draft.
“I like Ingram,” O’Neal said. “Think he needs to get a little bit stronger, but I think Luke is going to come to some type of system where’s he’s going to be out on the perimeter, doesn’t need to post up that much.”
