“Put Me on the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal Team”: Paul George Chooses Three-Peat Lakers As the Only Historical Team He’d Play For

A recent episode of Paul George’s Podcast P saw the LA Clippers star picking the one team in NBA history he would want to play for. While PG13 had a wealth of options, he ended up choosing the LA Lakers from the start of the 21st century. Comprising of Paul George’s idol Kobe Bryant and arguably the most dominant player of all time, Shaquille O’Neal, the early 2000s LA Lakers won three back-to-back NBA titles in 2000, 2001, and 2002. 

“Put me on that Kobe-Shaq team. I gotta play with OB. 2000, 2001, 2002, put me out there,” PG said, claiming that he could not choose any other team.

PG is regarded as one of the most elite two-way players in the league. While he has still not won a championship, no one will doubt that he would have played his part for the three-peat Lakers team if he was on it.

Alongside two high-IQ superstars like Shaq and Kobe, PG13 would have been right at home, heightening his legendary teammates’ output. George, over the years, has shown his willingness to contribute to teams that are offensively-stacked, and the early 2000s’ Lakers were no different.

They had three utterly dominant years, when Kobe and Shaq, despite their off-court differences, looked like an invincible duo. 

Still, it is not to say that they did not have challenges along the way. The Lakers had to work hard to earn their 1st Round playoff win against the Sacramento Kings in 1999, and the same was true for the Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers as well. Both times, a prime Paul George could have contributed on both ends of the court.

The Lakers surely had space for another superstar and would have been even more dominant with PG13 feeding off of Kobe and Shaq. O’Neal would have benefitted from his passing ability, while Kobe would have had another quality ball handler to play alongside. 

While such a team-up is only speculative, it would have arguably made the Lakers an even more entertaining team to watch. 

Paul George is a massive Kobe Bryant-LA Lakers fan

Paul George has previously talked about his love for Kobe Bryant multiple times. The Clippers man could have answered with a range of more dominant teams from the history of the league.

This includes Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, who perhaps would have been an overkill with Paul George on it. Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar teamed up in the early 80s for the Showtime Lakers, who won them 5 NBA rings. 

Larry Bird’s Celtics, as well as Boston’s teams from previous decades were all choices that PG13 could have gone with. However, staying true to his love for Kobe and the Lakers, he knew exactly which team he would love to play for.