Because there were not going to be enough Dwight Howard to Shaquille O’Neal comparisons this season, best to just bring Shaq in and have him there.
The Lakers have said for a while they would retire the jersey of Shaquille O’Neal, and now a date has been set for that — April 2, reports Kevin Ding at the Orange County Register. That is a game against the Dallas Mavericks.
While some Laker fans are still (are always?) bitter about how he left and this said about Kobe Bryant, owner Jerry Buss said before Shaq would get his number retired There had been a theory that the Lakers would not retire Shaq’s jersey until after Kobe has his retired (which number for Kobe is another question). But now that Kobe has one more ring than Shaq he is magnanimous in victory so it happens sooner.
And Shaq deserves to have his jersey on the wall up there Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who is getting a statue in front of Staples Center earlier in the season). By the way, George Mikan’s number should be up on that wall, too, even if he played in Minneapolis before the team moved to L.A. Shaq spent 8 years with the Lakers, won three titles and averaged 27 points and 11.8 rebounds a game, plus won an MVP award.
Shaq is one of the great centers to play the game, in a long line of great Lakers centers.
No pressure Dwight. None at all.