As immature as I think shaq is, there is no denying that without him the lakers don’t win 3 in a row.

Most people would say he is a 1st ballot hall of famer. Most people would also agree he played the best years of his career in LA. Putting together the pieces, I think he definately deserves a spot up there with the other laker greats. Sure we may not like him as much as we liked magic, kareem etc. When you think lakers, Shaq is still very much apart of our history and image.

And he will go into the Hall of Fame as a Laker too.

Bigger question, do the Lakers retire #8 one day, or #24?

Several great seasons and 3 dominant chamionships should outweigh anything else. Shaq was amazing for the Lakers early this decade and should be rewarded. The 2000-2001 team should rank up there with the greatest teams of all time (certainly among the top playoff teams) and Shaq led the team.

With Shaq’s jersey retired it will confirm the continued greatness of the Lakers’ center position. There may not be another line of greatness for one team in any other sport like it.

Without a doubt. When Shaq was a Laker I loved him as much as Kobe. No matter what happened between and Kobe or him or anyone else in the Lakers organization without Shaq there would not have been any titles. He said that his dream was to see his jersey retired in the Staples Center so yes we should. Although Kobe was not a sidekick Shaq was the most instrumental in that three peat. And for that I respect him. The fued was not just one player’s fault. They should both be blamed. But when it comes down it we cannot ignore what he meant to all of us when he was hear. At least I can’t.

and Yes

Well you see I’m torned, I guess its up to Jerry but if I was Jerry, I wouldn’t but based on facts Shaq was important for 3 rings and that does count but I still wouldn’t do it, Shaq has issues.

Shaq 8 seasons 3 championships.
Wilt 5 seasons 1 championship.

Wilt’s number is retired. Shaq is a no brainer.

BTW, here is Wilt’s “best” season (meaning his best ever season for each statistic)

Pts……..50.4
Reb……27.2
FG%…..72.7 (played all 82 games, 43mpg)
Ast……..8.6 (really)

Personally, I don’t like Shaq, so I wouldn’t fault the organization for not retiring his number, especially given the unhappy parting between the two … however, the retiring of #s is not done by my dislikes and likes and thus, championship-wise, Shaq’s number should be retired by the Lakers, but only and I mean ONLY when Kobe’s retired and it should be either after Kobe’s number/numbers get retired or before it.

Then there’s the subject of whether or not Kobe’s #8 or #24 should be retired and I’m pretty adamant both should be retired.

1. is already a shoe-in, but I think Kobe’s career in #8 wasn’t too shabby either. Sure he wasn’t THE leading man in the 3-peat years, but hell, he wasn’t chump change either and his numbers were still amazing!

1. kobe still came through in the clutch in so many of those championship runs. I mean, if his achievements in #8 pretty much solidified him a HOF status, shouldn’t it equally be enough to merit a retiring of the jersey?

Not to mention, #8 Kobe was the Kobe that made 81 freaking points. The string of 50+ games. The only player to outscore an entire team 62 points through 3 quarters. #8 Kobe was still keep the Laker “relevant” after Shaq left.

Of courses all those accomplishments I listed were more “personal” achievements rather than achievements he accomplished for the organization … but man, #8 Kobe still achieved a lot in a Lakers uniform. It’d be really cool if the Lakers organization recognized that without #8 Kobe, there wouldn’t be a 3-peat either.

I really hated the all the damn squabbling during the Shaq/Kobe run. In fact it makes me remember those championships less fondly than the Showtime ones. Who knows what really went on but I hold Shaq & Kobe equally responsible for it.

The way Shaq left and his behavior since has convinced me what a d-bag he is. All that made it clear to me how self-centered Shaq is and that he never gave a shit about the fans. (But it is nothing personal, he don’t care about the Orlando, Miami, Phx fans either.)

I remember when KG first got to Boston a reporter asked him about comments the T-Wolves owner made that KG didn’t try too hard his last year there. KG had the sense to just say “That’s in the past, I’m in Boston now and just focused on winning with my new team.” I never heard Shaq say that kind of thing.

So I think that while the Lakers should retire Shaq’s number they should not do so until a year or two after Kobe’s number is retired.

Also he has always been about Shaq and not the Lakers so I can’t see disrespecting all those great players with putting his jersey there, maybe the Womens head would be better.

why does everyone just ignore the fact that kobe wanted to shoot more and get a check like shaq and shaq wanted to keep shooting the most and keep getting the biggest check? to watch kobe against the bucks with those two final shots last night said a lot. after the regulation miss, ronron is complaining to kobe about kobe not passing him the ball as they are sitting side by side on the bench. kobe is adamant that he should have took the shot and he backed it up in OT. ronrons digust is shown in his face as he and kobe speak on the bench after the missed shot.
i’m just saying, kobe refuses to let the others get going. pau said it all when he was complaining about not getting touches a couple nights ago. he was asked about how he was getting so many rebounds and he said it was the only way he was going to get offensive looks. telling… i’m just saying…
34 should be retired because that was the player LA paid to play for them. what happened on the court during the games is what we should care about. from tip off to the final buzzer, not the locker room and FO circus. he did what he was paid to do and he did it well.
any of you that feels like his number shouldn’t be retired ought to ask themselves could we have done the 3peat without shaq as a Laker. yeah, kobe and kwame for the 3 rings. show some humility, be grateful that we got 3 while he was here and pay the man homage, its simple for those of us aware of bostons ring count. ingrates…

but why not both?
Yeah , #34 should be retired and here’s a question:His career isn’t over but he should stay as a Laker, How about #16???

that said, i sometimes wonder how much he may slow down bynum’s development. i understand gasol is more vital to the team’s success than bynum, but i still want the latter to be able to establish himself as the best center in the league. and from a fantasy perspective, i have bynum on my team, so i want him to put up monster stats…lol

You go from never getting 20 rebounds in a game to averaging 20 for 4 games? There is just no way that this is an anomaly. It reminds me of when Magic asked Kobe why he never gets a triple-double. Next game Kobe gets a triple-double. My point is I think Pau is sending some sort of message to someone.

If I had to guess what that message was and whom it is directed toward I would bet it is something like this…..

Hey Andrew, if a 30ish, skinny, “soft”, euro-white boy can get 20 rebounds a game do you think maybe you can grab more than 3?

Just a guess.

i dont blame them.
after all it is the greatest movie ever made.

Shaq’s jersey will be retires while kobe is still playing. shaq doesnt have much longer in the laegue. I dont understand how you cannot retire the jersey of a player that helped you get 3 rings. Especially the most dominant big man of modern basketball. He is a for sure hall of famer and will be in the staples center rafters. Kobe will have his jersey retired long after shaq’s jersey has been retired. and his banner will have #8 & #24 on it. Why the hell would you have 2 banners in the building for 1 person. both numbers will be on his jersey.

Just another thought. With all the talent and the players the Lakers have still to come (shaq, kobe, gasol, bynum, fisher…) do you think we will ever get low on numbers. lol. I dont really think so, but you never know – the lakers will always be in the hunt for another championship. there is too much pride and tradition. we dont take 22 year lapses liek some other team… cough… cough…….

Another tangent – what do you think the possibility is of the lakers retiring fishers number. I mean the guy has been on every championship winning team that kobe has, and has hit MANY clutch shots. do i even mention .4?