The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most storied franchises in all of sports, winning 17 championships and bringing in countless historic players to don the purple and gold. There have been many storied championship teams throughout the years, making for endless memories.
During the 2000s, L.A. was able to pull off an improbable three-peat, winning three championships in a row with a team that was centered around a young Kobe Bryant and a dominant Shaquille O’Neal. Bryant was coming into his prime and cementing himself as one of the great players in the league with O’Neal as his co-star.
The big man out of LSU was one of, if not the most, dominant center the league has ever seen and truly overpowered any matchup in front of him. O’Neal appeared on ‘Let’s Go! with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray‘ and talked about his weight gain during the championship run in 2000-2002:
“I was 285 [out of college], they started hack-a-Shaq with me early. So, I started lifting weights and was 300 and then 315. Phil Jackson came in the first championship and I was 345 and then had a great summer, came back 385 for the second one. Last championship, I was 415 and then when I got traded away, Pat Riley had me doing army drills and I got back down to 325.”
The Big Diesel was a truly one-of-a-kind player with the way that he overpowered any opposing center. Hearing how he reached over 400 pounds during the final championship in 2002 was surprising, although it did not seem to impact his play as he averaged 27.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and two blocks on 57.9% from the field in 36 minutes.
It was yet another reason why O’Neal is a talent that the league has never seen, being able to reach that weight of 415 and still be able to put up a double-double with two blocks and play high minutes. Bryant and O’Neal truly cemented themselves as one of the most notable duos in Lakers history with this three-peat.
While the two shared their fair share of arguments and disagreements through their time together, they put those differences aside and were able to win at a high level. Now, Bryant and O’Neal have their numbers retired, immortalizing them as Laker greats.
LeBron James & Anthony Davis join Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in Lakers history
As mentioned, the Mamba and Diesel are one of the best duos in Lakers history despite all the historic players that have worn the jersey. But, LeBron James and Anthony Davis became the first L.A. duo since O’Neal and Bryant to accomplish a feat recently, both recording 25 points and 15 rebounds in a game.
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