Los Angeles Lakers greatest scorers: 5. Shaquille O’Neal
Even playing only eight seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s remarkable just how productive Shaquille O’Neal was when he was in his prime with the Lakers. He was one of the most unstoppable forces that the league has ever seen. Shaq and Kobe have three titles to prove that, but Shaq’s numbers over those eight seasons in Los Angeles do a pretty good job of showing that as well.
Despite only playing eight seasons with the Lakers, Shaq still ranks seventh in terms of career scoring with the Lakers. To put that in perspective, the six players ahead of him all played 12 or more seasons with the Lakers. That’s because Shaq holds the third highest per-game scoring rate in Lakers history, putting up 27 points per contest while wearing the purple and gold. Moreover, the big man was predictably efficient in putting up those gaudy numbers as he shot 57.5 percent with the Lakers.
It’s amazing to think of the scoring numbers that Shaq could have put up with Los Angeles had he been able to knock down more than 53.3 percent of his free throws. Along those same lines, it’s curious to think just how much he would have scored had he and Kobe never had their beef and had he stayed with the Lakers. Even still, Shaq was too unstoppable as a scorer to not break the top five.