The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most storied franchise in NBA history, winning 16 NBA Championships, behind star players like Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and others.
Many of those great players will be remembered forever outside of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, as Star Plaza is home to eight statues, four of which are Lakers, that captivated the entire city of Los Angeles and the entire world of sports.
The eighth statue in Star Plaza was unveiled on Friday afternoon, as the Lakers enshrined O’Neal, their legendary center, into the Los Angeles sports hierarchy.
Shaq, his family and several former teammates and coaches were on hand Friday at LA Live to see the statue unveiled, which is appropriately sculpted in the form of O’Neal dunking unveiled, via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
THE BIG REVEAL! #SHAQSTATUE pic.twitter.com/H41tgWQ2Jg
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 25, 2017
O’Neal played 19 NBA seasons, with eight of them coming with the Lakers. While with the team, he was named NBA MVP in 1999-2000, and won three championships. O’Neal added a fourth championship to his name while with the Miami Heat, and went down as a 15-time All-Star.
Among the speakers at the ceremony Friday were Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, and former Laker greats Abdul-Jabbar, Bryant and West, who was responsible for bringing O’Neal to Los Angeles. In his speech Bryant called O’Neal the most dominant player he’s ever seen.