With kind apologies to Boston Celtics fans, the Los Angeles Lakers are the most storied franchise in basketball history. They have won the most NBA championships since 1980 of any team (11), and, no doubt, the reason is they have been a preferred destination for superstars.
That notion was reinforced in the summer of 1996 when Shaquille O’Neal joined them after leaving the Orlando Magic as a free agent. Of course, it was the same offseason that Kobe Bryant found his way to the Lakers after declaring for the draft straight out of high school.
O’Neal had quite the tenure with the Purple and Gold: a regular-season MVP and scoring title in the 1999-2000 season, three straight world championships and NBA Finals MVPs, not to mention indelible memories.
He recently named his all-time Lakers starting five, and it is an interesting one at that.
That's a great offensive lineup but a bit suspect defensively, especially given Shaq's foot speed and Magic's gambling. Beastly team nonetheless. pic.twitter.com/4ORKjPHaYq
— Amulya Shekhar (@tweet_amulya) March 9, 2023
O’Neal had himself at center, Magic Johnson at point guard, Jerry West as the off-guard, Bryant at small forward and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the 4.
One could argue that those five are the greatest Lakers players ever, but this lineup may not work in real life, as Bryant and Abdul-Jabbar would be playing out of position.
Still, O’Neal is entitled to his opinion, and perhaps there is no objectively correct answer in this debate.
