Shaquille O’ Neal
After the 1990-91 season, the Lakers lacked an identity. After all, they no longer were the Showtime team that they had been in the ’80s. Magic Johnson and Pat Riley were gone and they would go into uncharted waters and look to find themselves. It would of course take some time as they found themselves moving toward the bottom of their division. The franchise needed a change.
1996-97 would be one of the most important seasons in Lakers’ history. After all, the great Jerry West made what could be the greatest of all transactions when he signed superstar center Shaquille O’Neal in the offseason. It was also the year of course that West once again made a genius of a move where he traded for rookie Kobe Bryant during the NBA Draft.
O’Neal took very little time in establishing himself as a monster presence in Los Angeles. He was already well known as the most unstoppable player in the NBA during his time with the Orlando Magic. Standing at seven feet one inches and weighing 325 pounds, there was no presence bigger than Shaq.
He would take over the role of supreme commander of the Lakers and run with it. Like the big men before him, O’Neal fit the role perfectly as he now was part of Lakers history as another of the great big men. Like Magic Johnson, he also became very large in the entertainment world as everywhere you looked it seemed, you would find O’Neal. (Has anything really changed?)
Quickly, he established himself as a force with the Lakers leading them in scoring averaging 26.2 points per game, and rebounding, averaging 12.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. The team was moving in the right direction as they were getting to the playoffs but couldn’t seem to get over the hump of winning another title.
That would of course change in 1999-2000 when the Lakers won their first title since 1987-88. During his time as a Laker, Shaq would bring three consecutive titles to L.A. where he also was the MVP of the championship series for three consecutive years from 2000-2002. He was also the NBA’s MVP in 2000. O’Neal also made the All NBA’s First team as a Laker from 2000-2004. There is no doubt that Shaq is one of the greatest Lakers of all time.