Get ready for the “We Want Phil” chants to echo throughout the walls of Staples Center tomorrow night. According to Kevin Ding of the OC Register, Phil Jackson will be in the building tomorrow, as a speaker during the halftime ceremony for Shaq’s jersey retirement.
For @shaq No. 34 retirement halftime ceremony Tuesday, Lakers fans get to show love also for @philjackson11. He and @jeaniebuss will speak.
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) April 1, 2013
For Mike D’Antoni’s sake, let’s just hope the chants won’t penetrate the walls of the Lakers locker room, where the team will be residing at halftime.
Jeanie Buss will also be a speaker at the ceremony, and although Kobe Bryant will be in the Lakers locker room, Ding also reports the Kobe will record a video tribute, which will be played during the ceremony.
Although @kobebryant will be in the locker room in the team meeting, he will record some words of tribute for @shaq to be played.
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) April 1, 2013
Shaquille O’Neal spent eight seasons with the Lakers (1996-2004), in which he won three NBA Championships. He was the MVP in 2000 and the Finals MVP in 2000, 2001, and 2002. After a feud with Kobe Bryant, Shaq was traded to Miami in 2004. Recently, Kobe Bryant described his relationship with Shaq as “very good.” After Jamaal Wilkes’ jersey retirement ceremony, Kobe joked that he’d want Shaq to be presenting at his own jersey retirement,
“I’d probably force Shaq to do it.”
The Lakers take on the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night at Staples Center. Hopefully, the Lakers will feel like they’ve got something to prove with the greats in the building.
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VIDEO: Kobe Says He’d Force Shaq To Speak At His Jersey Retirement
