Shaquille O’Neal started the 2003 season off by saying he didn’t care about the Sacramento Queens after beating them the year prior.
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Shaquille O’Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers had their fair share of tough teams they had to face en route to three straight championships. Squads like the San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons eventually got the better of them the following years but Shaq and Kobe established themselves to be a premier duo well before this.
Their toughest opponent, without a doubt, during that three year run in the Playoffs would have to be the Sacramento Kings. They faced Kings in the Playoffs at each stage from the ‘00 season to the ‘02 season.
The 2000 Playoffs saw a 3-2 first round series victory for Shaquille O’Neal and company over the Kings. 2001 had the purple and gold sweep the Kings in the WCSF. The 2002 season was different however, as this was perhaps the toughest series the Lakers had had in the postseason up until that point.
The LakeShow came out on top in a grueling 7-game Conference Finals but not without the infamous ‘rigged Game 6’ fiasco.
Shaquille O’Neal on the Sacramento Kings in 2002.
Despite indications of a rigged WCF in 2002, the Los Angeles Lakers would go on to win their third straight NBA title. Given that they had just beat the Sacramento Kings for a 3rd year in a row, Shaquille O’Neal felt as though their California neighbors weren’t a problem any longer.
So, when asked about them at the start of the 2002-03 NBA season, Shaq simply said, “We’re not worried about the Sacramento Queens. Not at all. Like I said, I’m not worried about the Sacramento Queens. Write it down, take a picture, send it to them. I don’t care.”
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings would go on to not meet in the postseason in 2003, falling to the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks in the WCSF, respectively.
