Shaquille O’Neal is pretty much always going to be a Lakers fan, even when his old team is struggling. The big man talked about his predictions for the team in a recent interview with TMZ Sports, where he said LA will definitely make an appearance in this year’s playoff tournament.
Now, to complete the story, Shaq does NOT think the Lakers will be winning the NBA Championship this year. He used the words “probably not” with TMZ.
In the interview with TMZ Sports, Shaq said wearing the purple and gold of the Lakers was a tough job: “This was one of the hardest franchises I had to play for. I remember when I came here, Jerry West said ‘look I know you do movies, I know you do rap albums and all that’ and he made me look up and I look up and I seen Wilt and Kareem. He said ‘at the end of this you can either be a bust or you could be a legend.”
Of course the Lakers are one of the most winning organizations in the NBA. With 17 championships over the years, the team has been home to many of the greatest players in the game. In a team filled with superstars and legends, Shaq is right up there in the Lakers pantheon… certainly and arguably one of the most dominant figures at his position in the game.
In his eight seasons with the Lakers, he and Kobe Bryant made a name for themselves as one of the great duos in NBA history. Together they won 3 straight championships, dominated teams on a nightly basis, and had one of the most entertaining highlight reels ever assembled.
Now the Lakers are struggling, even with an all-star lineup including LeBron James, Anthony Westbrook, Carmello Anthony, Anthony Davis and more. Yet on a team that’s definitely piled-high with future Hall-Of-Famers, the team is underperforming this season.
Talking to TMZ Sports, Shaq talked about the outlook for the team this year, and into the near future: “The Lakers will definitely make the playoffs… those guys just have to decide how they want to be remembered. The problem is, they’re older. The young guys are coming at their head. So they got to turn it up from the beginning. You see they always have these miraculous — they’re down 15 and they cut it short they got to come out with energy. I think if they come out with energy they could put these young guys away.”
As of this writing, Lakers sit at 26-31 in the West, and they look to be a long way from becoming a title-contending team. Still, any team with LeBron and that much supporting talent has a shot….right?