Shaquille O’Neal discussed how the Lakers stay in touch
Shaquille O’Neal and the late 90s/early 2000s Los Angeles Lakers had quite the run. Led by Phil Jackson, the Lakers hit a three-peat in ’99, ’00, and ’01. In each of those three seasons, Shaquille O’Neal led the team in win shares.
Shaq had love for all of his Lakers teammates. Especially Kobe Bryant.
NBA fans have O’Neal’s beautiful and sensitively humorous eulogy at Bryant’s public memorial from February engrained at the forefront of their minds. The relationship between Bryant and O’Neal was not uncomplicated, but it was one of brotherhood.
Shaq speaks about how he and the three-peat Los Angeles Lakers stay in touch
Shaq, speaking to FanSided.com’s Mark Carman promoting Krispy Kreme’s latest doughnuts (Doughnut Bites & Mini Crullers), discussed how Kobe’s passing has taught the three-peat Lakers the importance of cherishing each other in the limited time we have on this earth.
"“It’s like that with all of our teammates. You know, what [Kobe’s passing] has taught us is that we have a little text group now called back-to-back-to-back. So it’s all the guys that played on the team. And we try to text each other once a month. Rick Fox is the president of that text group. He started it off and D-Fish, B-Shaw, Big Shot Bob [Robert Horry], myself, Gary Payton, Glen Rice. You know, we’ll all just get in for a few minutes just to say hi. And that’s what hurts the most, is a can’t touch [Kobe],” Shaq said."
It’s quite the crew.
Gary Payton must be an honorable addition to the championship group text, having joined the Lakers in 2003, two years after the final LA title of that era. Payton grew close with many players from that group chat in his one season in Los Angeles, though, and would play with O’Neal in Miami a few years later.
Group chats between title-winning teams are not all that uncommon in the digital age. The 2008 Boston Celtics, who notably beat the Lakers, also have one that includes the likes of Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Tony Allen, among others.
But if you had to choose one to be a part of, wouldn’t you pick the Lakers group text?