On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers will unveil another statue outside of the Staples Center. Shaquille O’Neal will be the next Lakers great with a bronze statue at the iconic arena in Los Angeles joining the likes of Chick Hearn, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Although the statue won’t officially be unveiled until Friday, O’Neal gave fans a sneak peek at his statue on his Twitter account:
Thank You Buss Family! #speechless pic.twitter.com/vkcKtKB7i6
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) March 22, 2017
This statue of Shaq will be the eighth outside of Staples Center. Along with joining Lakers greats like Magic and Kareem, the four-time NBA champion’s likeness will be seen near other bronze statues outside the arena including the statues of boxing superstar Oscar De La Hoya and Los Angeles Kings legends Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille.
O’Neal played for the Lakers from 1996 to 2004 and won three NBA titles while playing alongside fellow superstar Kobe Bryant. Shaq will have quite a few of his former Lakers teammates and legends of the franchise attending the unveiling including Kobe and Kareem.
Johnson, who was recently named the Lakers new president of basketball operations, won’t be in attendance for the statue unveiling on Friday. Magic will be in Memphis watching the UCLA Bruins going up against the Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet Sixteen with a focus on evaluation potential top draft picks Lonzo Ball, Malik Monk, and De’Aaron Fox.
Following the unveiling of Shaq’s statue on Friday, the Lakers will host the Minnesota Timberwolves in hopes of snapping a six-game losing streak.
