Shaquille O’Neal is undoubtedly one of the most excellent centers that the league has ever produced. He was involved in the last three-peat in the NBA, helping the Los Angeles Lakers win three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002. However, the former Lakers legend appeared ‘heartbroken’ when Jeanie Buss excluded him from her ‘Top 5 Lakers’ list. He shared his disbelief in a post on Instagram with his 31.2 million followers.
Advertisement
As an organization, the Lakers have witnessed several great players grace their roster. From Wilt Chamberlain to LeBron James, narrowing down a list of the top five Lakers is a mammoth task. In Buss’ list, she mentioned Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Phil Jackson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson. However, she missed out on their most dominant player, Shaquille O’Neal. It seems like Buss has snubbed Shaq for LeBron James, which has the Big Aristotle sulking.
Jeanie Buss snubbed Shaquille O’Neal in her list of Top 5 Lakers
Shaquille O’Neal played for seven seasons with the Lakers, during which time he won three championships. In all of these seven seasons, the Lakers have to the least, made it to the playoffs. However, executive Jeanie Buss seems to ignore Shaq’s contribution to the Lakers winning the three-peat.
In Buss’ list, she ranks in order Kobe, Kareem, LeBron, Magic Johnson, and Phil Jackson, respectively. Shaq posted an update on his Instagram, expressing his anguish with the caption, “whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.” He even posted a reaction of his face after reading Jeannie Buss’ rankings.
Shaquille O’Neal seemed quite heartbroken, which is evident from his caption. Every basketball fan would unanimously agree that Shaq easily belongs in the Top 5 list of Lakers. Although it is hard to remove anyone from Jeanie’s list, assessing individual player achievements of the ranked ones could put Shaq within these rankings.
Shaq had once snubbed himself to accommodate LeBron James among Laker greats
Fans often praise Shaquille O’Neal’s wise and compassionate attitude toward other players. When it comes to lifting younger players, Shaq has always been ever eager. In a post on Twitter last year, Shaq chose to eliminate himself from a team featuring Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Though Shaq was praised for allowing LeBron to fit among Laker greats, Jeannie Buss excluding him stung the Big Aristotle. Given his immense contributions to the organization, it is quite sad to see the Lakers not give Shaq due credit for their successes.
