Standing at 7ft 1″, Shaquille O’Neal is not your everyday NBA player. He’s a consistent fixture in most of our Top-10 or Top-5 Players All-Time lists. While he enjoys being a part of these lists, he blatantly refuses to be put in the GOAT conversations. Instead, he wants a whole category where he’s unbeatable: ‘Most Dominant Player.’ More often than not, he’s leading that category for most of us. Jerry West was on Podcast P with Paul George recently, where he talked about Shaq’s dominance, using 4x DPOY Dikembe Mutombo as an example.
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Jerry West had a huge role in Shaq’s life. He was the one who convinced the big man to sign with the Lakers back in 1996. According to Shaq, he knew he was moving to Los Angeles after West took him to the Forum. After that, O’Neal signed a 7-year, $121 Million deal with the Lakers. It was during his tenure with the Lakers that Shaq gave West one of the four moments that exist as photographs in Jerry’s house.
Jerry West recalls Shaquille O’Neal’s dominance
Ever since Shaquille O’Neal came into the league, his first mission was to become the greatest big in the NBA. He dunked over every great of his era, asserting his dominance. While West was on Podcast P, he narrated to Paul George how dominant Shaq truly was.
“I don’t care who you were, he was going to embarrass your a**. You couldn’t do anything with him, he was too big. The Lakers were playing Philadelphia. They named Mutombo the Defensive Player of the Year. I used to have about four pictures in my house, and here’s Mutombo. That’s how hard this guy dunks the darn ball.”
Taking down the 4x DPOY in front of thousands of people in Game 5 of the NBA Finals? That just goes to show how strong-willed Shaq was and his dominance. This is just one of the countless examples of Shaq posterizing one of the league’s icons. There is a reason why Big Diesel is considered the most dominant player in NBA History.
After seeing the efforts Jerry West put in to sign Shaq to Los Angeles, it’s only fair that West showed off how his bet paid off.
The Lakers couldn’t sign Shaq without $25 Tim Hortons card and 2 diet Pepsi
In 1996, Jerry West was the GM of the Lakers. Seeing how Shaq was on the free agent market, West knew that the Big Diesel is Lakers’ path back to glory. In order to clear cap space for his seismic contract, West made an unbelievable deal.
He cleared $36.3 Million in cap space by sending forward George Lynch and shooting guard Anthony Peeler to the Vancouver Grizzlies. In exchange, all the Lakers took was a $25 Tim Hortons Gift Card, 2 Diet Pepsi, and two future 2nd round draft picks.
This way, West made the space to offer Shaq the $121 Million deal, and well, the rest, as they say, is history.
