A few members of our staff share their favorite memories of the Big Aristotle’s time in Los Angeles with the Lakers in honor of his statue unveiling.
For those of us fortunate enough to have been around when Shaq and Kobe suited up for the Purple and Gold, we share quite a few fond memories. In honor of The Diesel being immortalized outside of Staples Center, we wanted to take a look back and reflect on some our favorite moments we have of Shaq, AKA Superman.
Shereen Rayan (@SportsCrazee)
My fondest memory of Shaquille O’Neal–and there are many of them, mind you–is when he decided to have a dance off with LeBron James and Dwight Howard.
First of all, a man his size shouldn’t even be trying to break dance, but Shaq goes much farther than that. He not only gets on the floor, but he spins and everything. Then he gets two fellow All-Stars to join in, and Shaq ups them in each round. It was the first time I have every seen anything like it, and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.
Watching it an umpteenth time, I still can’t stop giggling. It isn’t so much that he is dancing and break dancing ON THE FLOOR (!!!) it’s that he does it so well! He is actually a great dancer and those facial expressions are hilarious! You are just going to have to watch it yourselves.
Kevin Sanchez (@KevSanchez24)
There have been a lot of hilarious moments from Shaq during his time in the NBA. My favorite one isn’t a comedic one, but an in-game moment.
It was Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals. The Lakers were down 15 to start the fourth quarter and everyone looked lost. The Lakers refused to lie down and ended up making one of the greatest comebacks in NBA playoff history.
The Lakers had caught the Blazers with a 15-0 run and were actually leading by 4 with under a minute to go. Kobe had the ball at the top of the key, being covered by Scottie Pippen. What happened next was pure magic.
Kobe penetrated into the lane and sent a perfect alley-oop to Shaq to seal the victory and let the NBA know that the Shaq and Kobe era had arrived. That was a special moment, capped off by Shaq’s amazing reaction to sprint back to his bench with his arms pointed at the sky.
I’ve been a Shaq and Lakers fan ever since and have never looked back.
Eric Brown (@Generic__Eric2)
In an All-Star game that was dominated by the GOAT Michael Jordan’s return from an extremely short stint in minor league baseball, something happened pre-game that nobody has really ever talked about.
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In the video, Shaq does an easy spin around on MJ to the point where Michael has been flabbergasted and wants his revenge. They then proceed to trade jumpers. This is the moment that I am sure had everybody talking.
Shaq took Michael to the post on the left wing, did a little between the legs dribble, then shook the greatest to ever play the game right out of his shoes with a “Dream Shake” of his own. This was all done in pure fun, as it was done during pre-game shoot around, but this was the just the beginning of what Shaq would do in the league.
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But what do you guys think? Is your favorite Shaq moment on this list? If not, then what is it? Let us know in the comments below!