Shaquille O’Neal should get his statue erected outside The Staples Center before Kobe Bryant. No question. Shaq is more deserving and was the most important piece during the Los Angeles Lakers modern championship run.
Yes, we must have this conversation about the pecking order of statue constructions after the public relations wreckage caused by both Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Los Angeles Lakers, who absolutely took Jabbar for granted.
It is also indisputable that, without Shaquille O’Neal, there would have been no post-Magic Johnson dynasty in Lakerland. Kobe is more admired in Los Angeles, in part because of his bloodless-assassin mentality, his spectacular aerial acrobatics and his glam goddess wife and adorable offspring.
But Shaq, who also had an ego as large as his boat-sized feet, was more beloved in L.A. He was also the larger-than-life, immovable foundation that enabled Bryant to shine without being burdened with too much of the load in his formative years. And the sports pundits and sportswriters realized this as well, overwhelmingly voting for Shaq as the NBA Finals MVP all three times that Shaq and Bryant took home a Larry O’Brien trophy. Those were not coincidences.
If Kobe deserved more credit than Shaq when the two were together, he would have been selected. Kobe was simply much, much more fun to watch. He was, in the tradition of Dr. J, Michael Jordan and Connie Hawkins, like poetry in motion when he stepped on the court. As absolute as Shaq’s dominance was, people didn’t clamor to watch a man the size of a meat truck steamroll his way to the rim. Shaq’s style was hard on the eyes, but extremely effective.
Besides, Kobe would soon learn just how hard it would be on his own. He and the Lakers would never have returned to championship form had the Lakers not turned the Memphis Grizzlies into a true crime story. They robbed the Grizzlies, made off with Pao Gasol and left blood all over their locker room. The Lakers pretty much exchanged Pao Gasol for a couple of chicken wings and some hot sauce and won a few more titles with Bryant finally getting the credit and Finals MVP trophies he craved like a crack addict.
Be that as it may, Shaq should get his statue right after they finish Jabbar’s [Please, Lakers, don’t make the Shaq have to ask for it]. I believe that the Big Aristotle is, unquestionably, the greatest center of the modern era, and the sixth best ever. My top six:
- Hakeem Olojuwan
- Bill Russell
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Wilt Chaimberlain
- Moses Malone
- Shaquille O’Neal
–terry shropshire
