The mythical Lakers, who bulldozed through incredible teams for three straight years, imploded right after they faced a tumultuous season for the first time since their ascension. Their 2003 Finals loss at the hands of the Spurs began a spiral that would put an end to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s era.
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But in that 2 season blunder, it wasn’t just Shaq who found his gold and purple colors suddenly taken away. The battle for another championship after the threepeat and the lack of any cost many players their Lakers jobs.
One of those unfortunate players was Brian Shaw, a solid rotational point guard, who won all three rings alongside Kobe and Shaq. Soon after the Spurs ended the Lakers’ regime, Shaw retired. And now, he has opened up about what went on in the background that led to it.
Speaking to Byron Scott, a fellow loyal Laker, on the Byron Scott Podcast, Shaw, while discussing Kobe and Shaq‘s constant tussle for control over the team, ended up talking about why he retired in 2003.
Shaw, “we had won three in a row. We’re trying to win the fourth. And that year, Shaq was on this thing about getting paid. So he didn’t have his surgery on his toe. So he missed, I don’t know, maybe the first 30 games or whatever of the season, because he didn’t do the surgery right after the season ended. And so anyway, we end up losing, I think, to San Antonio in the playoffs.”
Shaw then recalled Kobe and Shaq’s desire to get younger immediately after the Finals. The loss made the two realize they needed more athleticism and young energy to have a chance to compete.
“So that costs Robert Horry and me, right? So they came to us, they said, well, we got to get younger. We got to get more athletic. So we got to bring in some different guys, try to keep it going forward. So I retired. Robert went on to win two more championships with Spurs,” Shaw revealed.
He also pointed out the completely opposite route the Lakers took after unloading him and Horry, “They brought in Gary Payton and Karl Malone and brought Horace Grant back… And they ended up getting older.”
The result is etched in history. The Pistons dismantled the aging Lakers. With Malone hurt, Payton nearing the end of his career, and Shaq-Kobe’s rivalry reaching its crescendo, the Lakers had to go back to the drawing board.
