That's the thing with Shaq....he could and should of won more rings and extended his dominance as the games number one player for a longer period of time. But nope...he made stupid movies like Kazaam etc. and came in to
the start of the seasons (in LA) unmotivated and out of shape.
Unlike Laker4Lyfe I was really excited when Shaq came to LA. But I remember all the rumors saying he is not interested in Championships just going to LA to make movies etc. and do his attetion whore thing. He did win us three...but I really think Shaq's big ego f*ct up ties with Kobe and got himself to direspect Buss.
And now he is at it again....selling himself as a ring chasers to say...but really IMO this guy just wants all the attention any which way he can get it. By saying he wants to win rings with LeBron to doing this stupid TV show.
If Shaq would just be focused on his B-ball career at ALL TIMES....he would be the most dominant player . But thanks to his huge ego and him being a attention whore and all.....Shaq is just the clown mascot of the NBA.
I don't want his jersey retired at Staples what so ever.
What I don't understand is why Laker fans can forgive Kobe Bryant but not Shaquille O'Neal. Kobe had/has a lot of problems too. He was accused for rape, played selfish basketball, caused a ton of drama with his trade demand, and publicly called Jerry Buss an idiot. If you forgive Kobe, then surely you can forgive Shaq. He gave us 3 championships, and a lot of good memories.
What I don't understand is why Laker fans can forgive Kobe Bryant but not Shaquille O'Neal. Kobe had/has a lot of problems too. He was accused for rape, played selfish basketball, caused a ton of drama with his trade demand, and publicly called Jerry Buss an idiot. If you forgive Kobe, then surely you can forgive Shaq. He gave us 3 championships, and a lot of good memories.
I see your points but I have to disagree soley on the basis that Kobe is still on the team. I honestly have no complaints with Kobe on the court what so ever. I strongly disagree that he played selfish basketball. Kobe did what he had to do for a certain period of time to win games...and in the Shaq and Kobe era Kobe played the role of facilatator with the offense running through Shaq and that's how we won all those rings.
I do fault him as well as Shaq for the whole meltdown....but it was Shaq who never came in to preseason camps over weight...it was Shaq who said he would get his surgery done on company time...it was Shaq who called out Buss to pay him more money when he was injury prone.
Kobe calling to be traded was also a bad move on his part. That stuff should of been played out behind the scene. But Kobe played through injuries for us...he has a great work ethic and the man just defied all odds and brought us another ring...not Miami....our team the Lakers.
Which comes to my first point...Kobe is a Laker....STILL!
If he (Kobe) ran off to other teams as well I'm pretty sure I would feel the same about him as I do for Shaq right now.
He will be best know as.....THE BIG CRYBABY in my mind. A spoiled 5 year old in a big huge body who put up hall of fame numbers.
Many may not like this, but I think he is an underachiveing hall of famer. His legacy will be one of he put up great numbers, but needed a finisher to win it all. A guy that can take you to close to the finish line, but needed help getting over it.
When its all said and done, people will realize that it was Shaq that couldnt win without Kobe more so than Kobe not being able to win without Shaq.
Shaq never learned from his mistakes and never grew up. He threw every organization, star, owner, and coach under the bus on the way out of town. ORL, LAL, MIA, PHX. All of them.
Its hard for me to see him as an all time Laker great because of that wreckage he left behind at each stop and how he refused to try and make Shaq and Kobe work at the end (Kobe gets plenty of blame here too, but Shaq was the older star who should have known better). Demanding a trade and throwing the Laker organization under the bus on the way isnt the best way to get remembered as an all time great.
Last edited by alexthegod : 07-21-2009 at 02:31 AM.
Many may not like this, but I think he is an underachiveing hall of famer. His legacy will be one of he put up great numbers, but needed a finisher to win it all. A guy that can take you to close to the finish line, but needed help getting over it.
Ohhh, absolutely. And he achieved soo much too, that is whats ironic... If shaq dedicated himself to the game the way KB does, just during his prime even, his legacy would be monstrous.
Ohhh, absolutely. And he achieved soo much too, that is whats ironic... If shaq dedicated himself to the game the way KB does, just during his prime even, his legacy would be monstrous.
but the fact that he was so amazing even without a work ethic shows you what a truly great player he was. Made others around him better, noone else knows how to use their height and strength to their advantage the way shaq did.
To consider that all of that was underachieving, says if he was the hardest worker, he would have EASILY surpassed MJ for the greatest player to ever play the game.
Also people say he couldn't win without Kobe, but even without Kobe, he had led the team to so many regular season victories. Love the big fella always even though I said the opposite in the past post championship era.
What I don't understand is why Laker fans can forgive Kobe Bryant but not Shaquille O'Neal. Kobe had/has a lot of problems too. He was accused for rape, played selfish basketball, caused a ton of drama with his trade demand, and publicly called Jerry Buss an idiot. If you forgive Kobe, then surely you can forgive Shaq. He gave us 3 championships, and a lot of good memories.
I don't believe kobe want to get out of LA, I see him being frustrated with the team loosing to the suns 2 straight years and we up 3-1 and can't close the series and every one is saying he can't win a ring without shaq put a lot of pressure. if kobe didn't demand for a better team we'll prob will never get pau gasol. all those distraction kobe create with the rape case etc, every time he come back from the court he put up a huge number.
Re: The Shaq question...
