When a team is playing at an elite level and winning championships it covers up mistakes which are made along the way. Until the past two seasons, when one thought of the Lakers franchise since 2000, one remembered only good times and the great work done by management in assembling teams that were highly successful. Yet, the truth is the team made some poor personnel decisions through the years which should have, and in most (if not all) cases could have, been avoided. This is not a reference to players like Steve Nash or Dwight Howard who came to the team but did not work out, or Chris Paul who should have been on the roster but never made it. Instead, I am talking about players whom the team gave up on and in effect asked to leave.
-== Top 10 Lakers Draft Picks of All-Time ==-
The following is a list of five players, plus some honorable mentions, to whom I am referring. These men were Lakers, but were prematurely shown the door.
1. Shaquille O’Neal
The three greatest centers in Lakers history, and arguably in league history, are Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal. In addition to their ability to dominate on the court, one thing they have in common is that they were not drafted by the Lakers. Instead, they came to the team in historic blockbuster trades or free agency moves. Championships – many of them – followed. Chamberlain and Jabbar finished their careers as Lakers, which is the way it should have been. O’Neal, however, did not, which in my mind is a travesty that will forever stand as a profound failure on the part of management.
The Lakers won three straight championships between 1999 and 2002. It might have been a four-peat, but the Lakers were hit with injuries and bad chemistry after Gary Payton and Karl Malone joined the squad which undermined the team in the playoffs in 2004. Kobe Bryant was a great player, but Shaq was the leader without whom none of it would have occurred. Players like O’Neal come along once in a generation, and it is shocking that the great Dr. Buss could not work it out for both to remain with the team. Big egos were involved, but after all the success they achieved together, management should have been able to find a way to pay O’Neal and Bryant to convince them to stay together.
O’Neal went on the win another championship after he left the Lakers. His skills diminished over time, but even Abdul-Jabbar, as great as he was, could not do the same things in the end that he did as a younger man. He was still effective, however, with solid players around him. The same could have happened with O’Neal. It was painful for Laker fans to have to watch him play for other teams. It never should have happened.
Next: Another Big Man We Gave Away